


Our Cracked, Broken Star

by Western42



Category: Undertale (Video Game), Undertale AU - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-01-24 23:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 49,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21346177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Western42/pseuds/Western42
Summary: In this world most of the main characters have been replaced by different monsters that have somewhat their traits. Ever since an accident the monsters now are for killing humans and getting back to earth not peacefully...by smashing their asteroid into earth or other wise known as the plan. This book/comic follows two humans that land on an asteroid filled with vengeful and mostly dark monsters. It also will follow some of the monsters perspectives as well. Can the humans stop the plan or will they become the last souls that the monsters need?
Kudos: 3





	1. Our Fallen Opinion

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Undertale AU. To see more about what it is about look up Our Cracked Broken Star on the Undertale AU wiki.

The sound of my alarm woke me up. I opened one eye and stretched my arms and yawned. Morning time already? Of course it was. I got out of bed and grabbed my jacket and then turned off my alarm clock. It was really just a bright light with the orange numbers that told the time barely visible in the middle of the bright mess. Once I turned the light off the time became clear once again.

3:40

My brother is going to be a little pissed off now since I was late...Maybe Sara too but one time she woke up at 4:60 so she isn’t an early bird. I walked into my bathroom, the white tiles blinding me as I flicked on the light. I muttered a curse word and waited for my eyes to adjust to the light. Once it has I combed my hair and went downstairs and into the kitchen. Quest, my brother and lieutenant of the Loyal Knights, was in there cooking a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon. He perked up when I walked in, his diamond red eyes glancing at me before going back to frying the eggs.

“Your late West! I woke up about an hour ago.”  
I let out a yawn and took a seat on the kitchen table.

“Not everyone can be as cool and battle ready as you bro. If they did, they must have taken one hell of a Quest!” I added, earning me a comical looking death glare from my brother.

“WEST...”

“Yes Quest?” 

“Don’t do it this early please.” Quest pleaded with a sigh. 

“Alright bro.”

We ate a quiet and quick breakfast as normal and as normal Quest got done first and, with a wave goodbye, went out into the cold world outside. I studied my breakfast for a little bit, deep in thought. How can he still be so positive in a place like this. I remember Henry asking me something... a question that I won’t forget... not anytime soon.

“West I have a question to ask you. How? How do you keep that smile and friendly attitude in you even in this world?”

I gave him a friendly smile but my mind snapped a little and my eyes hollowed and I am pretty sure my smile became a little creepy.

“Ever heard of a facade? I’m sure your a smart kid. I think you know what I am getting at right now don’t you?”  
Henry stayed silent, an expressionless look on his face that was nowhere near as expressionless as my was. I turned away from him.

“It’s best for you not to worry about it kid. Don’t want to cause a fuss so don’t tell anyone okay bud?”  
Boy was that so long ago. Must have been a year and a half...but Henry still remembers. He never has looked at me the same way again. I overheard him writing and saying out loud to himself that he has a whole lot of respect for me since he has never seen someone hold out on their emotions for so long. It is true in a way though. I am for forgiving humans but...I get a lot of hate for it but not now. I just managed to help everyone out. Hell to be honest the human child here right now is only proving my point. Even the king has decided to give mercy to them. What was her name again? I think it was Mereya? Maybe it was Merya? I don’t know. I think I am going to see her. 

I got up and cleaned up my plate and grabbing a snack, went outside. It won’t take long to find her.

  
  
  


“Hmm? Is someone there?” I asked.

I was just in front of the entrance to the Everflowing River when I heard a rustle in the long grass. It sounded a little to big to be a monster child.

“Is this about my campaign about the humans? If it is screw right off! There are guards around and I am not that much of an easy opponent.”  
The person didn’t respond. I let out a nervous chuckle.

“Unless your human you won’t be able to attack me without using magic and I can hear that.”  
Still nothing. I was now sweating a little. Was it just my imagination? No it sounded too big and hasty...but then again maybe it was. There is no wind and no one is above me on the cliff so no rocks were falling down...so who was there. Am I being paranoid? It wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe I am? I sighed and turned away for a second, knowing that I was safe but deciding if I should go and fetch the guards or not when the rustle came again. I spun around, a magic blue spear in my hand, ready to fight off the attacker. The only thing is that the attacker was human, and they were fast enough to hit me with something sharp across my face. I saw a flash of red fill my vision and I couldn’t see anything else but red in my left eye. I cried out in pain and fell to the floor, the taste of ash in my mouth.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
....

  
  
  
  
  


I went into the pod, my brother holding me close to him. I still don’t think this is a good idea. My father planned to send us to colonize a distant asteroid...though it looked weird. I was studying it to see where we can set up base but there were no pictures of it up close, it was extremely close to a star but not burning up. In fact the star seemed to be following the asteroid. We couldn’t tell any other feature of it. The only thing we know is that for some strange reason the air on it is breathable. That got me a little worried about aliens but Danny said it was nothing. So did Pal. I like Pal...but the look on his face right now wasn’t a good one, it was a sad one.

My father looked at us, tightening his red and yellow striped tie and fixed his dark blue suit, his look filled with something of guilt but mostly contempt. I never understood why he hated us so much. He in public openly cared for us but when alone he just ignores us and sometimes for no reason whatsoever he yells at us and blames us for whatever reason or thing that he has trouble with. 

  
  
  


My sister went closer to me. It was small and cramped in the metal pod. The people that were gathered around to watch the “event” were mostly scientists who couldn’t care less about us kids. This is an execution. I figured that one out fast. He knows that this might not work since they only tested it once and he also knows that the chances of us surviving on that asteroid were very very slim. It was a death sentence. Poor Pual. He had no other choice but to help our father. He is the “president” of this wonderful country after all so he has to. Do it or your family will suddenly and mysteriously disappear. That is what happens. Pual knows it all too well. Happened to his friend.

I glared my hatred at dad and he just chuckled. He pointed at a man wearing a brown business suit with a crinkle face and he pressed a button. The portal behind us started up and the pod slowly started getting sucked in. My sister hugged me tightly and with scared eyes waved goodbye to dad. She still doesn’t understand does she? She is so naive. The pod shook and rattled until it became unbearable. Then a brilliant flash of orange... and darkness. 

  
  
  


I opened one eye. Danny was unconscious next to me. I got off him gently and looked around. The pod had crashed into a building by the looks of it. I guess the portal failed. Strange acretcheture though. It looked like purple bricks with red somewhat glowing glue or cement in between them. The building was entirely run down and ruined. Surprisingly we or the supplies weren’t hurt in the crash. The ruined building looked very very old with glowing blue vines snaking out of dark deep cracks...wait, glowing blue vines? I opened the pod door and for a split second I felt a strange pressure in my longs and I thought that there was no oxygen but nope a second later I started breathing. The air was rough but other than that I was fine. I looked up at the sky...only there was no blue. I could see a massive shape of a flaming ball in the sky. Well only half of it but I realized what it was. It was that star. We are on the asteroid all right...but we weren’t the first ones here. Maybe we were stuck somewhere for a while and we just came out now but time has past for so long that we have already claimed this and colonized this?

“Hey Danny! Wake up. We arrived...a little too late I think?” 

Danny awoke with a groan.

“You can stop shaking me now little sis.” Danny got up and looked around.

“I guess we did make it. What year do you think it is?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know? Maybe 3978?”

“You and that number.” Danny grumbled.

“Let’s call dad!” I suggested, then, without waiting for a response, called him anyway. The phone line went dead but not before I noticed something.

“Wait, dad would be dead if we are in the future this far ahead. The call tag is still the same. We are in the present.”  
Danny let out a gasp when he realized what that meant.

“That means aliens are real...and we are here with them right now.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
....  
  
  
  


  
  


I waited with the other monsters as West and Quest went on the podium. Quest cleared his throat and waited for silence to follow it while West just took a seat down on a wooden chair, his face hidden by his hood, his hands nervously fumbling a stress ball. Never seen him do that before. Quest cast him a look before sighing and tapping the microphone.

“Testing testing. One, Two, Three! This thing has to be on right? Well my voice is loud enough anyways.”

I didn’t like the dark and worried look that was on Quest’s face.

“After the incident it is clear to me what has to be done. I have talked with Magma and Rescue Dog and they have agreed. Any human except for Mara is to be killed and their essence taken in to the king or me or Magma or G-dog. There will be a reward for doing so.”

Complete and stunned silence followed his words. They had tried so hard and finally succeeded in putting the past with humans behind them and now they are now suddenly going to kill them? After a couple of moments the crowd went into an uproar. Shouts and protests. Quest looked worried. Suddenly West stepped up and walked over to the microphone. 

**“SHUT THE HELL UP! Do you not understand why we are doing this? We all want to go down to Earth again right?”**

Everyone in the crowd went silent to listen. West pulled down his hood to show his large jagged crack on the left side of his face. His left eye was covered over by a bandage but his right one...his normal yellow sphere was a mix between yellow and red. He was sweating yellow sweat and he seemed nervous as all hell.

“I got attacked by a human who has never seen me before. What do you think the humans down there would do? They would kill us and ask questions later. We all know Mara is a little screwed up in the head. The only way to see the Earth again is by _ mass genocide. _I will personally see that it happens. We shall use the human essences to power the engines to crash into Earth and use the shield to protect us. The humans over a good range will be destroyed and the others won’t dare attack us. Anyone who disagrees...you should be ashamed. You can’t forget the past. It just comes back to kill you. We will teach humans a lesson once and for all. You don’t have to kill any humans but don’t protect them either. Sentries and guards and the Loyal Knights will be in charge of killing them. Also under no circumstances are you or any of you to kill Mara. Understand? Good. That’s all I have to say.”

I think everyone is agreeing with him. No protest or anything in the crowd. A couple of them started cheering and soon everyone was. West took this all in, his right eye settling on me, an unreadable look on his face. West was their leader and the person who cared for humans the most. That human attacking him... I know it. That human attacking West snapped his mind. West was now entirely for killing humans. What has this world become?


	2. A dog in a ruined place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two humans land on the asteroid and discover that they might not be alone. After a while of exploring they meet a pug who instantly attacks them.

I watched as Jasmine skipped into a large broken archway with the hallway on the other side ruined and big holes in the wall where those blue glowing vines were creeping through. Was this really a place where aliens were? It sure didn’t seem like it. Maybe humans were here and this is a prison or worse, an outbreak of some kind of disease. Father must have known since he kinda controls the world. He just wants us dead I thought bitterly. I followed Jasmine and saw she stopped at a big silver door with a star on it. Below it read a sign in english.

“Here be Monsters. Enter Humans at Your Own Peril.”

Jasmine turned towards me after reading it.

“What do you think it means?” She asked.

“Exactly what it says.”

So this is a prison of some short or outbreak and the humans before they perished were telling us to go away.

“Humans were here not aliens. This has to be some kind of outbreak like Dead Space 3.”

“What? Oh that game. I sure hope not.”

“So do I little sis.”

I slowly and carefully opened the door since as I checked before the way behind the pod just ends in pure space. The end of the asteroid. The door revealed a run-down store with a run-down path with barely and signs of a roof. The store’s name was too faded to read.

“Martin’s.”

“Huh?” I asked Jasmine, turning towards her. She was squinting at the sign above the stand.

“It says Martin’s Burgers and Fries! Welcome Humans!”

That confused me. Jasmine had extremely good eyesight. That wasn’t what confused me though. If this was an outbreak of some short why does it say welcome humans? Maybe they don’t consider themselves humans?  
“Maybe they're aliens?” Jasmine pointed out.

“Maybe...” 

  
  


  
....

  
  
  


This place is so interesting! I was skipping around and checking everything out. This used to be a marketplace. All the food was gone but I did manage to find a few loose purple coins with a gold star in the middle of them. I told Danny that they must have been money to the aliens. He agreed but like normal he seemed to be deep in thought. Unfortunately the market place was soon to be left behind as Danny found the next room. I waved it goodbye and skipped into the next room. I heard a silent click and I stopped and gave Danny the sign to stop, a shake of my right hand twice. He stopped and suddenly I heard the sound for something zipping past my neck. I saw it for a couple of seconds. It was a long twisted metal spear with a jagged point. It disappeared into a hole in the wall. I was standing on one foot when it happened and when went into the hole I fell flat onto the ground.

“JASMINE!” Danny cried out and, stepping over the slightly off colored dark purple brick and crouched right next to me.

“I’m alright you big lump.” I reassured him and I got up again.

“I guess we have to be more careful from now on ehh?” I say, playfully elbowing Danny.

“I still don't and most likely never will understand your sense of nothing is wrong here.” Danny scolded. I just shrugged.

“You only live life once,” I tell him. It’s my favorite quote.

“And you might as well live it fun.” Danny finished.

“YES!” I say excitedly, fist pumping the air.

“Oh boy.” Danny said, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

“Oh girl?” I reminded him of that old thing that used to go on between us. Danny face palmed.

“Can we just go on?” He asked, a little annoyed.

“Let’s ago.” I say, pointing towards the end of the hallway which ended with a left turn.

  
  
  
  
....

  
  
  
  


“Hey Danny did you hear something?”

I stopped and paused. Jasmine also has very good hearing.  
“No. What did it sound like?” 

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


“It sounded like a snake hissing.” I told him. Suddenly a knife stabbed the wall in between us. I yelped and stumbled back onto the ground and Danny paused and tried to locate the source of where it was thrown from. Suddenly a blue rectangle appeared in between us connecting to the knife. I knew right away that it was a force field. A metal thump sounded behind me. I turned around and saw a robotic pug. He has purple star eyes and was almost as big as me. He looked agile and he had a knife in his paw. I knew it was a he because it just spoke.

**“Today must be my Lucky Day! Humans? Damn, I thought I would never see today’s contestants for... Today’s show!”**

That pug sounded like a young announcer if I have ever heard one and trust me I have.

“Uh, who are you?” I asked nervously. Danny was pounding on the force field, not even making the tiniest dent in it.

**“Who am I? I am Cyber Dog but you may call me L.D. Stalker honey.”**

“Um okay? What is this show about?” I asked, sweating nervously. I always do that.

Cyber Dog smiled, revealing rows upon rows of small white sharp dog teeth.

**“A reflex test this time.”**

**“**What?” I asked while at the same time Danny yelled Watch Out! L.D. Stalker moved quick and threw a throwing knife right at me. Unfortunately for him I am great at dodging. Testing is a drug I tell ya. I grabbed the knife out of the air without flinching. L.D. Stalker looked surprised at this and then let out a chuckle.

**“Militarized children? That is something new. Makes me think that humans are now deliberately trying to get rid of us.”**

He raised his right paw and did some sort of dog snap and three more throwing knives appeared in his paw. The room seemed to get darker until the only thing that I could truly focus on was Cyber Dog. He chuckled and his eyes glowed brighter.

**“As Lora would say I am going to Fricken Ruin You...though she says the real word not the fake one.”**

I tensed up, readying myself for a fight but suddenly the darkness lifted and Cyber Dog perked up. He growled and suddenly jumped through a hole in the roof. He peeked his head in.

**“Until next time child. I can’t wait until we finish what we started.”**

And just like that he was gone. The force field disappeared and Danny came running over to me.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, examining me all over for wounds.

“Yes I’m fine.” I tell him.

“Good.” He said with a sigh of relief. I have a feeling I know what is going to happen next.

“THEN WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? How did you effortlessly catch that throwing knife?”  
I shrugged.

“I have good reflexes.” I told him honestly. Danny took in a deep breath, was about to say something, but then just let it all out.

“Forget it. Let's keep going before that robot comes back.”

“Alright!” I say, my excitement coming over me again.

....

  
  
  


“I wonder what other monsters are in here?” I asked. Danny paused for a couple of seconds.  
“Monsters? Why would you say that?” He asked.

“Well the pug said his name is Cyber Dog as well and Cyber like a cyborg so he considers himself to be a monster...right?”

Danny shook his head.

“That makes no sense.” He told me before taking the lead. The rooms were now mostly the same despite us trying to find any signs of buildings like before with the marketplace. Any signs of what happened here and what is going on here. Finally after about an hour of walking we stopped. Up ahead was a short but tight hallway with swinging axes that disappeared in big gaps only to come back again.

“Well we went the wrong way.” Danny said and turned around.

“Don’t be such a wuss.” I teased him.

“There is a fine difference between being brave and stupid and being a coward or smart.” Danny told me.

“Really now, because I think I am going to cross it.”

I turned towards the trap and crouched down into a runners position but before I could do anything Danny grabbed me by the collar and pulled me away from the trap.

“Hey!” I yelled, trying to get free.

“You are Not going through there.” Danny said.

“Let me go!” I pouted, trying not really that hard to get out of Danny’s hold. He dragged me all the way into the last room where we had an option to go left or straight. Of course we went straight but that lead to the axes.

“Now get up and let's go.” He said, letting go of my collar and letting me lie on the ground.

“Do we have to keep going?” I groaned. Danny put his hands on his hips.

“If you ever want to return home then yes we do.”  
“Alright.” I said, admitting defeat and jumping to my feet. We entered the left corridor and followed it until it ended at a large brown wooden door with black knockers and black door knob. 

“That looks like it has been recently painted on.” Danny pointed out.

“Well at least we know someone is here then.” 

Danny let out a sigh.

“It might be that pug though.”

“Might be but it might not be too. The pug did leave before attacking me again and it looked like he was afraid of something.”

“Like that helps me.” Danny said flatly, his eyes narrowing. I shrugged.

“It’s true.”

Danny let out another sigh and then knocked on the door. The sound echoed through the ruined building. After about two minutes of waiting Danny got ready to knock again when we heard the sound of footsteps on the other side approaching. They sounded heavy. Whatever it was it was quite large.

“Oh boy this person sounds friendly.” Danny said sarcastically.

“We don’t know that there not.” I pointed out. Danny just mumbled something under his breath but waited for the person to open the door. The door was locked apparently since the sound of the person unlocking it from the other side could be heard. Then the door creaked open just a little bit.

_ “Hello? Who’s there?” _

The voice was that of a girl. The voice was a nervous wreck though by the sound of it.

“Uh hi! My name is Jasmine and this is Danny my brother! What is your name alien?”

Danny gave me a “really?” look. 

“What?” I asked hotly. Danny just shook his head.

_ “Alien? Why no one here is an alien. Shouldn’t you two know that? Or...” _ The voice grew hard and cold and bitter, _ “are you kids here to laugh and make fun of me again. I guess you kids never learn ehh? Well bring on the insults. Go on now.” _

I suddenly felt bad for this person behind the door. Kids were making fun of her? Why would they do that?  
“No we aren’t here to make fun of you. The reason I call you an alien is because your not from Earth! That is the planet we live in”

The voice let out a gasp and then opened the door carefully. The person was a young teenager with blond curly hair and almond color eyes. She wore a thick black jacket with a black and very dark blue striped scarf and white shorts which really stood out with spike heavy looking brown leather boots. The person was clearly a human.

_ “H-humans!? Oh...uh. H-heya! My name is Mara.” _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Mara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans meet someone named Mara! Mara is a human who seems a little off. Also West decide's to go out and visit Mara who she makes him promise her something a little bad for the humans. (I also realized that the part where they get let into the house somehow never went over before so here it is now)

  
  
  


I honestly didn’t expect to see a human up here. Well I did at first but after the strange pug attack and his racistium towards humans I didn’t expect to see one since I figured they all would be dead. But nope, here is one now, dressed in a strange outfit with a shocked look on her face. She was kinda tall for a teenager or I guess a young adult. The one thing that struck me as odd, besides the fact that there is a human living here, is her face. To be more specific, her eyes and hair. She had pure black bags under her eyes and her eyes...her pupils were so small that it made her look crazy. She also had very messy hair. I always thought that girls were crazy about their hair...except for my sister, she just doesn’t care. All of her facial features which I did find a little cute were hidden under her eyes. I just can’t really say it enough, Mara, I think that is her name, looks crazy. Well crazy, nervous, and sad. It was kinda pitiful to be honest.

_ “How did you kids get here? It was always grown-ups who went here and maybe once that teenager and his friends but...” _

The girl stopped and just studied us a little more.

_ “Compared to the others you look well fed and clothed so why did you go out on the space program? You should have known most of the “new” spaceships crashes.” _ _   
_“Uh. We aren’t from the space program. Our father kinda forced us to go into this pod to see if we can “colonize” this weird asteroid.”

The girl let out a chuckle but her eyes grew deadly serious.

_ “You're not joking, aren't you? You went to the wrongest of worlds. Ever since that accident...humans are to be killed on sight.” _

“What about you?” Jasmine asked, leaning forward with excitement. How is she excited at a time like this I don’t know. Jasmine is Jasmine I guess.

The girl let out a sigh.

_ “I was friends with all of them at the time. It was another human who came here that attacked him.” _

The girl's voice was full of remorse. 

“Who is he?” I asked now, interested.

_ “West. West was for humans but after he got attacked he realized something chilling that I still think is true to this day.” _

“What?” Me and Jasmine both said at the same time. The girl looked at us mournfully then closed her eyes. 

_ “I’ll tell you later. Right now you are confused and I am going to assume tired and banged up right? I have a guest room where you two can stay. Most humans that come here crash into this part so I am always ready for them.” _

The girl went inside and disappeared around a corner. Jasmine looked at me.

“I guess we have no other choice but to follow her.” I told Jasmine. She nodded and together we entered through the door.

....

Mara’s house was quite nice. The walls were painted a nice light yellow brown color with some paintings with beautiful stars and some of them with strange looking people looking at them. One of them was a person wearing an orange coat with four black arms. That wasn’t the only odd one person there either. I swear one of them was a picture of some tall fellow wearing a scientist outfit with a kid holding his hand. That one was taken in front of a tree on earth. 

Mara took a left that was a long hallway that ended in a dead end with three doors and a picture on a table in the middle of it. This hallway was grey and black with purple stars painted onto the roof. Mara went to the first door, opened it and went inside. Inside was a room with a bed and a dresser and a desk with a lamp on it and a swivel chair and a garbage can next to that. On top of the desk were a bunch of pencils and pens and other drawing materials. But besides that the room was empty. Mara searched around through the color pencils and markers and, with a ah ha, grabbed a golden key and walked out of the room and shut the door close. 

_ “This way.” _Mara said, going to the next door down. Unlike the last door which was brown this one was black. She unlocked it and opened the door for us. Inside was a bedroom with two beds on both sides and a drawer in the middle of it with a lamp that seemed to be not plugged in. There was a carpet in the middle of the room with strange writing on the outside. The carpet was shaped like a square and was blue and yellow. At the center facing away from us but towards the bed was a sentence.

_ “This is your guys room. Feel free to look around. I need to go and attend to something.” _

Mara gave us a nice caring smile and left the room. I heard her open up another door which was at the end of the hallway and go inside, locking it behind her. 

“Well she is nice.” I decided.

“And a little bit odd.” Danny added. 

“She is giving us a warm bed Danny!” I scolded. Danny just shrugged. I sighed and walked around to the beds to see what the carpet said. I still don’t get Danny. He can be so rude at times and for no reason what-so-ever.

**Our tale of dread.**

**Or...**

**Our dreadful tale.**

“Huh? I wonder what the tale could be?” I asked nobody but still drawing Danny over. Danny read it outloud and scratched his head.

“It seems to be clear that something bad had happened here so this carpet most likely says the story but it is in a language we don’t understand.”

“True.” I said, turning around and opening the drawer. Inside was a little notebook with a faded red ribbon on it. I opened it up.

_ “Hey Mara. It’s me, West. I know you locked yourself in there but there is no need to worry. The few monsters who blame you are nowhere near here... I made sure of that. Please answer my calls when you get the chance. I also hope you find this. I made this myself. It kinda a hobbie now...heh. Just slip it under the door if you write something. Oh yeah, if any other monster finds this... _

_ I will hunt you down so you better not take this you Fuc-” _

I decided to stop reading that part. Whoever wrote this wrote it kinda badly. There were some mistakes here and there. Wait, Mara did reply to this person.

_ “I am so sorry West but... I can’t. You know that I will protect the humans that I find. That is if they crash where I crashed. Though I have to admit this place is cold and lonely. Please continue talking to me. Please...” _

Who is this West? Whoever they are they must really care for Mara to be writing. This dates back... fifty hundred thousand years ago... How old is Mara?

_ “I won’t. I know your feelings towards humans but... never mind. It is not worth mentioning. Maybe you could go by the door...” _

I skipped ahead a few pages.

_ “I finally saw you outside today! Though something tells me you won't go near the town will you? Ever since the Loyal Knights have fallen everything went to hell. Luckily for you everyone who doesn’t really know you well are deadly afraid of you. Like you said before, loneliness is one hell of a thing. Next time you come out I will come and find you so you don’t have to keep talking to those worms.” _

_ “Thank you West. I am sorry for not coming back to you sooner but I thought that if I disturbed the people so much that I shouldn’t come out. I will be coming out tomorrow. Hopefully you get this...” _

Here was the last entry. This dated eight days ago.

_ “West? I haven’t seen or heard from you for two years... West please don’t go...West?” _

Now that is sad. Whoever this West is they haven’t talked to Mara for two years! Wait... just how old are these people? West was around longer than this diary or book or journal and so was Mara. Also West said monsters as if they were a species. Monsters like the Kraken and stuff right? How could something like that write on a journal? Wait...that picture.

I tossed Danny the book and ran out the door to check on the picture. The picture was of Mara and some other person holding hands watching the star. The person wore a blue jacket. Below it read

**I still remember what you were like West. I can’t ever forget that.**

Mara did look different. She looked...she was a lot smaller. She looked like she was a kid. Suddenly I heard crying from down below. I should ignore it but my curiosity is no joke. I took a hair clip out of my hair, yes I have many of them hidden in there just for this kind of stuff, and pick the lock. The door opened with a click. It leads to a bunch of purple stairs leading downwards. I looked behind me and then went in.

  
  


....

  
  
  


I walked through the bend trees that mark the entrance. The door was already pretty much gone so she now seemed to board it up with metal scraps and wood. I walked up to it and sat down in front of it. I could hear Mara crying from the other side. I looked around, looking for threats, anyone. Ack who am I kidding? Everyone is a threat. I just hope those punks no better than to come around.

I slowly raised my right hand and then knocked on the door four times. I heard Mara gasp in between a sob.

_ “W-West? Is that you? Ar-are you there?” _

_ “H-heya Mara. Yeah it is me. Now are you going to yell at me or something?” _

I readied myself for the insults that were going to come for not talking to her for so long. I was ashamed of myself for that. H-how could I do that to someone? _ How can I do that to Mara most of all? _

I started to breath funny. I normally do that when I feel like this. Calm down West, your better than this...

_ I am not better than this. This is who I am. I am what this world has shaped me to become. _

_ “I-i. I thought you were Dead! I thought you were killed!” _

_ “No insults? I have been away from you for so long...I haven’t visited you in so long...I deserve the insults.” _

_ “Where were you?” _Mara asked, completely ignoring what I had just said.

_ “L-lets just say I had some...problems with me that needed to be fixed.” _I tell her bitterly, the experience still fresh in my mind. I should have never went there, let alone sign up for the damn thing.

_ “W-well okay then. West...” _

I perked up a little.

_ “Y-yes Mara?” _

_“A-a human has crashed into here._ _Two_ to be exact. Both are kids. They are brother and sister.”

** _“HUMANS!” _ **I cried out in shock and slammed my hand on the ground, shooting up a couple of spears into the air.

“I must have you promise something West. Please... please if the humans ever come out of here. Don’t kill them. Don’t have Sara kill them and don’t hand them in. Make sure your brother and Lora and even Magma and Alert play fair. And if the humans ever get any further...”

_ “Yeah Mara?” _I asked, frightened over the fact that humans have arrived.

“Stop them from progressing further. Kill them if you have too. Better you do it than Him...Rescue Dog. Please promise me that?”

I let out a big sigh.

_ “A-al-alright Mara. I promise but please... Please Mara try your best to keep them there. I-i...I don’t know how much more I can take.” _

“I-i _ promise West. Thank you.” _

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


I went back upstairs. So that was West. He seemed friendly enough. I wondered what that promise was going to be but I was told never to listen in on promises. When I finally got up to the stairs Danny was waiting for me. I closed the door and locked it.

“Really? I hope it was worth it.”

“It was!” I informed Danny who looked at me with a “really what the hell” look, raising one eyebrow.

“West seems to be a friendly guy despite sounding worse off than Mara. I also heard that apparently this place is full of monsters. Well not here but outside of here.”

“Like the kraken?”

I shrugged. I didn’t know. 

“Mara sounded a lot better while talking to West and they made up.”

Danny let out a sigh and crossed his arms.

“You and your nosiness.”

Oh boy did he have not a clue to how nosy I really am.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. The bookshelf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a strange dream Jasmine decide's to go and read some books only for one of them seems to not like them.

  
  


Danny and I decided on sleeping for the night and think of a plan tomorrow. Mara finally came upstairs and closed the door to our room. Danny was fast asleep so I was the only one to hear her talking to herself. I couldn’t really make out what she was saying but it was in between the lines of  _ “can’t blame this on me”  _ and  _ “your fault not mine”  _ and the last one I heard before when went deeper into her house was  _ “he got worse” _ .

I decided to get some sleep finally. After what seems like a long day in this weird place I think that is what I need. Only live life once...I think I already have. This place. Heh, I don’t think Danny understands yet. Oh well. He will soon. 

I let out a big yawn. I was really tired. Time to sleep. I closed my eyes and waited, waited for whatever sleep brings me comes.

  
  
  


....

I woke up suddenly in a strange black room. The corners of it were outlined bright glowing red. I was in a box! I realized. 

“Hello? Anyone here?” I called out, a little uneasy of the silence of this box. When no one responded I started walking around the box, touching the walls of it, looking for an exit or really anything. I couldn’t find anything. Nothing at all.

“HELLO?” I cried out, distressed for some reason.

** _“Is someone here?”_ **

I spun around at the new voice. A girl wearing a grey fluffy jacket and dark grey hair and red eyes walked into the room. She wore black shorts and had pink sneakers on. A white glitching line was across her chest like a knife slash and blood was coming out of her mouth. She looked at me with a shocked expression then turned around, seem to do something, then turned back around, the white glitching slash mark no longer there, her clothes weren’t torn, and she wasn’t bleeding from her mouth.

** _“Hello there! Sorry I didn’t expect any visitors. Uh, mind me asking but how did you get in here?”_ **

“Uh, I was kinda hoping you would say what this place is.” I say, still a little nervous. The girl paused and then nodded to nothing and closed her eyes.

** _“I don’t know where this really is. All I know is that this is a place in between a place called the Crecnovoid and a place called Barracuda's Edge.” _ **

What was she talking about? Crecnovoid? Barracuda’s Edge? What?

“Huh?” I asked her. The girl just shrugged.

** _“Some lunatic told me.”_ **

“What lunatic?”

The girl just shrugged.

** _“Some kid with torn eyes and sharp teeth wearing a silver sweatshirt and carrying a giant scythe. He then just teleported away. At least that's what I assumed he did. He just kinda vanished.” _ **

I was now even more confused than before. What is she talking about? 

“Um, okay. How do we get out of here?”

Once again the girl shrugged.

** _“Your dreaming so you just have to wake up I am going to assume. Me on the other hand, well...”_ **

The girl broke off with a sigh. Suddenly she perked up.

** _“Oh yeah, before you go. Mara isn’t what she was before. She is dangerous. If you want to leave her prison you better make sure you get out undetected.”_ **

Suddenly a splitting pain formed in my head. I clutched my head in agony and let out a wordless cry for help. The girl looked a little frazzled but mostly unfazed. 

** _“Remember what I said. It is kinda your only hope.”_ **

  
  


....  
  
  


“Hey Jasmine! Little sis! It is time to wake up.”

I let out a goran and opened one eye. Danny was shaking me awake. Of course he is. I got out of bed and looked around groggily. I took me about a minute to remember where I was and what happened. I felt a nagging feeling telling me that I am forgetting something but when I tried to remember what it was I couldn’t grasp it. 

“I’m up I’m up ya big dweeb.”

Danny raised his left eyebrow but said nothing. We exited the room to see Mara sitting in a big sea blue bean bag, a tablet in her hand. When we walked a little closer she perked up and waved at us with a friendly smile. 

_“H-heya kids! Breakfast is being made. Once it is done I can answer all of your questions. Right now feel free to explore around. Uh do me a favor and don’t go into the room in the hallway that your bedroom at the end. It is the one with the, uh, the grey door! Yeah the grey door one. Don’t go into it.”__  
_ Then she raised the tablet up again and started doing whatever she was doing before. The living room was kinda nice. There was a large fireplace which was lit. There was a bookshelf to one end and a bunch of firepokers next to it. The end closest to us had a small light brown wooden table with four cute but basic wooden chairs and an unlit candle was on top of the table. I went over to the bookshelf with Danny following close behind me. There was another bigger silver door with a window on it. When I looked in I saw a well organized kitchen. Something was in the oven. The window creaked open. I wondered what was cooking since whatever it was it kinda smelled good. Meaty but sweet. I get that kind of stuff from smelling. Yeah I know, I’m weird.

Danny started looking through the books and finally took one out. It was a medium sized red with golden bindings book with the title faded. Danny let me look at the title.

“The rules of monster fighting and fighting a human.”

Danny opened it up and started reading.

“When monsters fight humans a duel system is activated. Humans get the chance to check and do other magical things. They also take turns attacking in turns.”

Danny skipped a couple of pages and then read another paragraph.

“If a monster is spared by a human or vice versa the other must spare. This doesn’t apply if the human doesn’t threaten the monsters life. The monster must know that they will die. Same with humans. Humans though have a certain bar that is filled up that makes them comply since humans are cruel cheating bas-”   
  


Danny quickly stopped reading. He skipped a few more pages and scanned the page before closing it and putting it back. 

“Well that was indeed helpful.” Danny said.

“Oh stop sounding so wise and stuff.” I tell Danny, slightly pushing him in annoyance while he let out a laugh. 

_ “They’re so cute.”  _

I turned at the voice of Mara. She wasn’t looking at us but I knew she was talking about us. I don’t think Danny heard either since he showed no response other than to go back to looking at the bookshelf. 

“Let’s see. Hmmm. Ooh this looks like an interesting one.”

I turned back to Danny as he pulled out a large brown old dusty book. He once again let me read the faded title. 

“Project Example.”   
  


Mara let out a stifled gasp but said nothing. Once again Danny said nothing. Is my hearing that good or is Danny just pretending not to notice. Danny opened the book and instantly dust went into his face. He coughed a little and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Danny gave e a side-ways glare before reading the text. Well, he tried but failed since it was faded. 

“Can you?” Danny asked me, handing me the book.

“I don’t know, can I?” I teased. Danny let out an annoyed sigh before correcting himself.

“May you read this?” He asked me.

“Sure!” I answered excitedly and took the book from him. I started reading the table of contents out loud.

“Chapter 1! The Example Project! Chapter 2! Dust and ash scatters on the wind...Chapter 3! Mike’s Intermission. Chapter 4! Your going to get a spear in your neck Jasmine...”

Danny gave me a look. 

“Are you pranking me?” He asked, annoyed. I wasn’t though. It said that. Word for word it said that someone named Jasmine is going to get a spear through their neck. I let out a shaky sigh and went on.

“Chapter 5! I warned you...” 

I swallowed nervously. Danny just raised his left eye brow and started tapping his foot, his arms crossed.

“Chapter 6. Humans selfish acts will get them killed...Chapter 7...Continue reading Jas-”

I broke off. It read continue reading Jasmine, not like your fate isn’t sealed already. I looked at the next chapter. Chapter 7...keep reading the damn table of contents. Too late to change anything...Then next to it was a creepy drawing of a black box with two pairs of red eyes in the middle of them. I felt them staring into me. I swear I feel something walking on my grave.

“Chapter 8...The new plan. Chapter 9...oh god.”

“What?” Danny asked, leaning in.

“I-it would be a shame if Mara suddenly had to leave you alone for a while...”

Now even Danny was beginning to realize that I wasn’t joking.

“Maybe we should stop.” Danny said.

“Chapter 10...” I said at the same time.

“I hope your good at hiding.” I finished. I quickly closed the book and shoved it back into the bookshelf, not caring where or how hard I pushed it. I started panting and sweating, nervous all of a sudden. I looked around and noticed something. 

“Danny...” 

Danny noticed it too.

“Where did Mara go?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Meanwhile with West, Quest, and Mara...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara somehow got outside of her prison without the humans realizing it and...yes it is about time to meet him again...runs into West and the Evil Quest!

  
  
  


_ “Oh come on bro, sometimes you just gotta believe me when I say stuff.” _

Quest raised his left eye brow, a “really” look on his face. I just shrugged at him. He sighed and face palmed before crossing his arms.

**“Really Quest? Why do you do this? You know precisely why I don’t believe you this time.”**

I briefly remembered the incident but then just thought past it. 

_ “Y-yeah so? Why does it matter.” _

Who knew trying to convince him that Nora’s name is Kel was so hard? Right now I was too lazy to hunt down Magma Dog and make him tell Quest that Nora’s name is Kel.

_ “I-i’m telling you the honest truth here Quest. I promise that I am not lying. Do you want me to take you on a _ _ quest _ _ to prove it?” _

Quest made his original never gets old comical cartoonish death glare, his black smoke coming out of his mouth again and his diamond shaped red pupils becoming black.

**“Not this again! Try and get some new puns for once West.”**

_ “The name puns never get old bro. Besides, the bloody _ _ Nora _ _ one was pretty good.” _

**“NAR- That was pretty good.”** Quest said, rolling his eyes. 

**"REGARDLESS OF YOUR PUNS, I AM STILL RIGHT!"** Quest put his gloved hands on his hips and posed dramatically, trying to prove his point.

**“Dad once said that an opinion is a fact.”**

My eyes narrowed at the mention of dad.

_ “H-he doesn’t know Shit! And that argument was pointless anyway.” _

Quest just shrugged. 

**“Ehh, who knows if he was right or not?”**

_ “E-exactly! If he knew what he was doing then maybe we wo-” _

Quest gave me a look that told me to please stop. I hissed but stopped talking about the subject.

_ “So,” _ I say, teleporting a toothpick in my hand and started cleaning my teeth, “_what does Lora think of the new sentry post design?” _

Quest was about to say something when a piece of spec landed on his nose. He sneezed and looked up at the sky...we don’t have a sky so more or less into outer space.

**“Uh, she thinks it is nice but she said she wants to talk to Alert about a few “minor” changes she wants to make.”**

I wonder what her “minor” changes are. More specs started falling from the sky. Then a black one landed in the middle of us. I let out a surprised hiss and checked the news. Black specs were falling around this time. Please remain indoors. Of course the few times that I didn’t or forgot to watch the news something like this happens.

**“Well?”**

_ “We have to go inside...then again black specs really don’t bother us. It’s up to you.” _

Quest seem to think about this for a little bit. He opened his eyes and was about to say something when his eyes focused on something, something behind me. I spun around quickly, sweating more, my eyes searching for danger. I then saw Mara walking up to us, her scarf swaying as the wind picked up...what you can call wind anyways.

**“Oh my god West. West, is that a human?”**  
Of course he forgot about Mara. He remembers what dad said about the entire opinion thing but not Mara.

_ “No br-” _

I didn’t even get a chance to finish my annoyed sentence before Quest jumped into the air wildly.

**“OH MY GOD IT IS!”**

I turned towards him, annoyed now but he was to busy talking to pay much attention.

**“The last human! My god. Look at them...they look like they’ve been here for...a long time?”**

He stopped prancing around and looked at me, wanting an explanation. I let out a sigh and shrugged at Mara who was letting out a chuckle.

_ “That’s Mara, the human that we are great friends with and the one human we aren’t suppose to capture or kill or experiment on...ring a bell?” _

Quest walked up to Mara, who was only a two or something foot smaller, and looked at her more closely. Mara eye’s shrunk in and she seemed to be thinking of something.

**“OH! Sorry Mara. It’s been so long since I have seen you or heard your voice that I have forgotten about you. My apologies.”**

Quest stood up and nervously went back to my side. He gave me a panicked look which was his way of saying sorry for not recognizing her. I just nodded, my smile turning into a frown for a brief second before turning back into a smile.

_ “M-Mara! So good to see you outside again. How has everything been since I have talked to you? Which was yesterday but still.” _

Mara scratched her hair nervously.

_ “Oh you know. Just the usual of reading by the fire or drawing or just sitting...H-heh.” _

**“Right. Well I am going to let you two catch up. West, when your done meet me at Her place.”**  
I spun towards Quest.

_ “W-WHAT! You can’t go to Her place while I am not with you! What if something happens? I-I Have to be there with you b-bro. P-please?” _

_“L-let us come with you. Who knows how she has changed over the years.”__  
_ Quest looked at us and our pleading faces. Finally he let out a sigh of defeat. We both yelled yes and went on both sides of him.

**“You two are like little children and ice cream. You do know that this is serious right?”**  
Deadly serious. I can’t lose Quest. Mara can’t lose Quest. No one here can lose Quest. If I lost Quest then...

_ I really am a failure. _

Quest nodded and then beckoned us to follow him. Me and Mara looked at each other, a look of protection in our gaze. We both nodded and then followed close behind him, watching out for any threats as he headed towards town.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  
  


Finally Quest stopped in front of Her place. The place was a tighty looking shop with a simple white oak door and on both sides of the door were large tinted blue windows. The words Welcome to Her Place was on a banner hanging down almost in front of the door. That had to be the only not clean and nice looking feature on the outside of Her place. 

Quest looked at the building for quite some time before finally sighing and stepping forward. West and I moved in behind him but he put his hand up.

**“I will call you if I need backup so be on standby.”**

**Quest** turned around and looked at West with a serious look.

“You too West.”

West smile turned into a queasy one and he shrugged, sweating even more.

_“Y-you got i-it bro.”__  
_ If only Quest knew that if anything went wrong West would come busting in, destroying everything. West does hide a lot of things from his brother...including how much he means to him. If something were to happen to him...I don’t think he...It’s best not to think about it. It’s best if he never finds out. W-well he wouldn’t since he would be dead. Haha. I am so pathetic.

Quest opened the door and went inside and left us alone. I felt a tingle and quickly side-stepped to the right and avoided a pile of black smoldering spec. West looked at it in disgust and then promptly summoned a GB Blaster and destroyed it entirely. Then with a snap of his fingers the creature went invisible. Since it was raining black spec out and no one really looks outside when they are in their houses no one saw him do that.

_“W-West. I have something to talk to you about.”__  
_ West stopped looking at the burning smoking hole that his GB Blaster made and looked at me.

_ “Y-your brother forgot about me. W-what if everyone else forgets about me?” _

West was about to say something but then stopped, a horrible look of realization on his face.

_ “T-the project...T-their memories... W-what if-” _

West cut me off with a growl, his smile gone.

_ “N-no. I refuse to believe it.” _

_ “I-i...I just don’t want us to be forgotten. Not after everything. I-, I don’t think that is the way the gang goes out.” _

_ “M-my brother forgot who I was for a couple of seconds and later yesterday, after I v-visited you, Beltore forgot entirely who I was. It was my dad who reminded him.” _

We both stayed silent after that. Getting forgotten would be a horrible way to go. I-i don’t like Doctor Belnargd as much as West doesn’t but seeing him might be the only way.

_ “M-maybe we are just a little tired. Yeah, t-that’s it. Tomorrow is another day right?” _

I looked at West, he was smiling again, his eyes looking up at the star. I smiled too, looking up at the star as well. It always filled me with wonder.

_ “Y-yeah. That is it. We’re just tired.” _

I think we both know that isn’t it.


	6. Caught in the act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where is gets a little disturbing. Mara has some unfinished work she has to do but is seen by the children while they are out exploring.

I continued walking despite my sisters best attempts to get me to stop. Finally she ran ahead of me and crossed her arms and with a fierce look stood in my of entering the next room by blocking the doorway. I finally stopped.

“What?” I asked, thoroughly annoyed that she is stopping me while we could be in danger.

“Why are we leaving Mara’s house?” Jasmine asked, still keeping her fierce look. I sighed.

“Because a book said they were going to throw a spear in your neck.” I reminded her. 

“Oh book of nonsense. It’s not like we can die again.”

“What?” 

Jasmine looked very uncomfortable.

“W-well I mean...Think about it. We are on a strange asteroid where aliens exist but they aren’t aliens they are monsters like the kraken and stuff. I had a dream of a girl talking about some strange stuff and now a book is saying that it’s going to throw a spear through my neck. Not to mention the talking robotic pug.”

I thought about what she was saying. It did kinda make sense but this all felt too surreal and not heaven or hell like for us to be dead. Then again what is death like? 

"Dead or not we should still take a threat seriously. We don't know about anything."

Jasmine started rubbing her left arm, once again proving that for some reason she does all the stand up nervous poses.

"True...I am sorry."  
"What for?"  
Jasmine looked away from me.

"You didn't know and I just told you it without any warning. You were trying to protect me and you were unaware."  
I raised an eyebrow.   
"You sure are set on we're dead thing aren't you?"

Jasmine let out a sigh and didn't respond. I didn't know if I should go and comfort her or not. Suddenly she perked up. 

"I hear something."

I was about to say what I it when I heard it too. I gave a signal that meant get down to Jasmine and she listened. I also ducked. Suddenly Mara rounded the corner, a unreadable expression on her face. Jasmine was about to stand up but I quickly stopped her. I wanted to know what she was doing without her realizing that we were there. Jasmine, after giving me a look, just went with it. 

Mara seemed to have some white and black stuff on her jacket. She quickly wiped it off and then, with a sigh, pulled out a light purple knife. She looked at it with a weird expression before she bursted out giggling. She covered her face but that did nothing to dull the sound of her laughs. After a while she stopped and looked around, her pupils black and tiny, and insane look on her face. She started sweating yellow sweat and, looking around again, suddenly turned left and stabbed the wall with amazing speed. The wall made a click and suddenly the wall swung open revealing a room inside. A trapdoor! Nice. Mara took out the knife and went in, her eyes somehow lighting up the dark room. After a while I was about to signal to Jasmine that we need to get closer when Mara suddenly appeared around the same corner that she entered in before. That wasn't the only surprise though. In her right hand she has the knife and in her right one she dragged a human corpse. The human was killed by something being thrown right through his head. The human was naked and many scars were over his body. I noticed that Mara was actually a little bigger than the adult male she was dragging along effortlessly. She was humming a little toon which I didn't recognize. She dragged the corpse into the room which she had opened up and after a while she came out, a dark grey rag in her hand. She smiled and then closed the door and then locked it with the knife. I remembered where she did it so in case we need to get in there we can. Then with a bow which seemed real and not a fake one she put the knife in her left pocket and then walked back the way she came.

After a while of waiting to see if Mara returned which she didn't we finally began talking to each other.

"Okay. We may have a real problem."  
I raised my eyebrow.

"Ya think Jass? Maybe it was the dead human body which she just dragged into that room. Or maybe it was the fact that the person looked to be a bodyguard, probably from the Space Program Merklo by his tattoo. Or maybe it is the fact that she dragged him effortlessly along like he weighed nothing."

Jasmine just shrugged. I let out a sigh and face palmed. 

"Now can we get out of here?" I asked her. She nodded. We got up and started walking the way Mara came, not by choice but since we had nowhere else to explore. Suddenly Jasmine heard the swinging of axes and we rushed forward and saw that we were now on the other side of the axe trap. We continued walking until we saw something new. The next room was a square with random x's and o's spaced out. Jasmine stepped on one before I could stop her. Nothing happened but the o turned into a t. Jasmine shrugged at me and I let out an aggravated sigh. I will never understand her. We walked through the trap, making sure that we didn't step on anything else. When we turned the corner though we saw that the hallway was blocked by large spikes. 

"Maybe the thing in the other room was a puzzle?" Jasmine suggested. It made sense so we went back. We first tried to make it all one thing but soon got stuck as if we stepped somewhere else it would turn back to x. We discovered that both the x's and the o's change into t's but t's change into x's or o's without any random pattern. With a sigh of defeat I stepped onto the t tile and changed it to an o. Suddenly the entire puzzle reset. The second time Jasmine and I tried it we solved it by changing all the o's and x's to t. We were awarded by the sound of the spikes lowering. We high-fived each other and went onwards. After another harder puzzle like that one we soon reached a new one. It was one where we had ten seconds to find the right lever and open up the door. Using teamwork we solved it on our third try. We were celebrating when suddenly Jasmine went still.

"I hear Mara humming." She said, panic in her eyes. We didn't have nowhere to hide this time so we just stayed still. Suddenly Mara walked around the corner and somehow...didn't see us. She went past and opened the door with ease. Suddenly she stopped and turned around. Luckily we planned for this. We pretended like we were sleeping. I had one eye open partly to see what Mara is going to do. She looked at us for a moment, a concerned look on her face, then smiled and twirled her hair. She then turned around and went through the door and she made extra care to close it gently. After waiting for a while we heard a chirp of a text and then the sounds of her footsteps fading away. After five minutes or so we heard her return and press something. Then once again she left without even checking on us. We decided to get a move on. It wasn't long before we saw Mara again. This time we hid behind a big somewhat broken purple lamp. Mara walked by, somehow coming the way we were going. She stopped briefly, looked around, then walked by going the way she just went. 

"Okay. How does she keep doing that?" I asked.

"Doing what?" Jasmine asked.

"She walks one way and somehow ends up in front of us. She seemingly is everywhere at once and we explored every part of this place so far and there is no shortcuts. How does she get around so fast?"

"Maybe she has secret passways like the one she used for...the one she used before." 

"Maybe." I could tell she was still in shock of what she saw. The main reason I could tell is because she has stayed mainly silent. Though being the president's children we have seen stuff like that. Then again this time it was by a kid or a teenager. 

"Well regardless we need to get going before Mara attempts to kill us."

Jasmine looked around once more before nodding. I nodded back. Somehow we will get out of this mess. This won't be our place of death We won't fall down to our fathers plans. We will find a way to get back and I will make sure we never again fall into our dad's plans.


	7. Good or bad?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans find out where L.W. Stalker is. Jasmine gets a spear through her neck and Mara saves her which brings confusion in the humans. Is Mara good or bad?

I walked behind Danny, hoping that he could protect me. What a cowardly thing to do right? I just said we were dead and now here I was staying behind him not knowing if we really were dead or not. In a way it did make sense that we might be dead, The only thing is the fear was still there. Maybe that guy attacked Mara...then again why would someone attack a kid? Maybe their a pedifile? Maybe...or maybe Mara killed him. Mara is messed up in the head.   
_"You don't understand."_

Me and Danny froze at the sound of Mara's voice. How did Mara come so close without us hearing her? We turned around and saw...a little worm like flower-looking creature. It was kinda small, no bigger than my leg. It cocked its head and then said another phrase.

_"H-heya humans! Y-you sh-should know better than to try and leave. The place outside is a nightmare. Monsters are killing each other. Chaos rules. You will be captured and killed brutally."_

Danny gave me a "what the hell" look.

"I think we should get going." Danny said.

"I think you should get going." The worm thing echoed. Danny nodded at it and then grabbed me by my arm and hurried me along. After a bit of walking a smaller one popped out of a hole in the ground a couple of feet in front of us. It didn't do anything until we got closer where it began to speak.

_"I may be a little odd but I know better than you."_

"Listen kid, I know you've been here a lot but I think I can handle whatever is out there. Please move aside."

_"Heh heh. Y-you think you can handle what is out there? You can't survive these traps and you think you can handle what is out there? Heh heh heh."_

Then the worm just went back into its hole.

"That's the guard right?" I asked Danny. Danny nodded. 

"Let's just keep going." 

After a while of walking again we finally reached a room that was different. It was a table with a note on it. Compared to the other rooms this place was perfectly intact. Danny took the note.   
"After a while of waiting I am here to tell you that we need one more human soul or essence. I am now taking the contact to task. I am here to see if I can kill the human who enters here. I will not attack them near you. I will attack them if they are nowhere near you or your home. My promise from a dear old friend L.W. Stalker."

"Well then." Danny said, putting the note back down on the table in the same exact position it was in before. A trick we learned from over the years. We entered the next room. That is when I recognized where we were.

"Danny..." I whispered. I think he realized it too since he started taking small steps back. The room had a nice black and red rug with the word welcome in gold letters. In the corner of the room was a brownish yellow fur dog bed. On the opposite wall is a dart board with three silver throwing knives embedded into the middle. I recognized the throwing knife design. Then to make matters worse I heard the sound of a hiss. I froze and saw the metal body that was lying in the bed. It was L.W. Stalker. Danny noticed him too. Then we realized that he was sleeping. Danny pointed out of the room. I nodded and followed him back out of the door.

"Alright," Danny said, sighing with relief, "if we want to go forward we must get past him. We need to stay silent."  
  


I nodded and we then slowly went back into the room. L.W. Stalker was snoring peacefully as it seems, no nightmares or anything...though his snores sound like hissing. I went a little closer to him just to make extra sure and sure enough his eyes were closed with silver eyelids over them. Now that I look at him he was big, bigger than a German Shepard, but still kinda small. He is not taller than us. Danny beckoned me to the white door that was the exit. I carefully and silently went to him. We opened the door and stepped inside. The next room was a kitchen with a dog bed in the same corner as before with L.W. Stalker in it. We froze. How is he in this room too? I went back into the other room and saw that he was also in that room.

"I think its a hologram. He is in here too." I reported back to Danny silently. Danny checked for himself before coming back in.

"Well okay then. As long as he is asleep though we should be fine."  
I nodded once again and went through a black door this time. Finally we were out of the house. The walls on the outside were back to being torn and old. We were safe...for now.

....

Jasmine stopped suddenly.

"There is a sign on the wall." 

I looked towards where she was looking. A large slab with black text was written on the wall. I went over to it.

"I can't read this. It is in the same language as the words on the carpet back at Mara's house."  
Jasmine let out an aggravated sigh before turning back to the path in front of us. Suddenly a worm popped out of another hole, scaring us.

_"They will give you a cruel and bitter death. Best if I..."_

"If your so worried then why won't you come with me? I'm sure your parents are looking for you."

_"..."_

"Kid? You alright."

_"I am fine. Just fine..."_

Suddenly the sound of humming and a static noise filled the room. I covered my ears. Then it stopped.

"A-are you alright? Y-you..."

_"I am fine...I am perfectly fine...Now I can't see. Just fucking great."_

"Um. You need some help?"

_"W-what I need you to do is to get back in the house. Last chance. I-i won't let you suffer out there."_

"Then why won't you come with me then?"

_"I made a deal that any human outside of this place is fair game. I also made a deal with Cyber Dog."_

"Who?"

_"Someone who will kill you if you aren't near me or in the house in the ruins."_

Then without another word the worm slid back into its hole.

"You know, those look like the things we feed our lizards."

I looked at Jasmine who was smiling at where the worm came from.

"Alright then. Now...This person was trying to leave and Mara is trying to stop him. Where does this go wrong?"

"Maybe she didn't kill him?" Jasmine suggested. I doubted it. After walking a bit more another worm popped out of another hole in the wall, though this one had a nasty scar on its beak.

"I must get home. Please move aside."  
_"**#$%$#**"_

"What did you say?"

** _"T-then prove to me human. Prove to me that you can survive out there."  
_ **

"Uh, how?"  
  


** _"It's quite simple. Think of it as a numbers game. In order to stop this bad time you will have to get me down to half my health."_ **

"Uh, what? Is this a game?"  
  


** _"Humans don't know how to fight? Oh yeah, I forgot they forgot how to. Heh. Well don't worry, your pal Mara will show you."_ **

The sound of fire igniting and the guy letting out a shock yell was so clear that I thought maybe it was happening right now.

_ **"Let the fight begin. Your gonna have a really bad time."** _

The worm made a non-echoed cute kaboom sound and wiggled its legs around, imitating an explosion before going back in the hole. Jasmine smiled. I would if this hadn't just confirm my theory. Mara fought this person and by the insane and angry voice she had I am going to assume she killed him and if she killed him somehow then what is to say that she wouldn't kill us. I wonder if she has some sort of fire patch in her pocket or maybe a pocket flamethrower but then quickly shook that though away. A gun is still faster and those security guards are suppose to be extremely well trained. Suddenly I hear Jasmine yelp. I quickly turned towards her to see her sitting on the wall, clutching her neck, a long dark grey pole in her hands. It only took me a moment to realize that the pole was a spear and in just stabbed her in the neck. I ran over to her and keeled down.

"Move your hands." I say in a panicked voice. Jasmine let out a whine but did so. The spear somehow didn't go through the middle of her neck but seemed to bounce off and hit the edge of her neck instead. It looked bad with the blood but I knew it wasn't. But it did leave her a great risk on infection and if she opened it up once it was a scan it might go deeper and make her not breathe. Luckily right now she can breath but if I pull the spear out the wrong way it will become fatal. This is quite the mess. I looked into Jasmine's scared eyes and she pleaded with them. I can't and I won't let my sister die. Suddenly, just before I could do anything though I heard the sound of Mara humming. She walked into the hallway and saw us. She let out a gasp and ran forward.

_"H-hold on child. I-i can help."_

I didn't trust her but what choice did I have. I moved over and Mara keeled down and raised her right hand over the wound. It suddenly glowed green and she gently touched the wound. The spear fell out and I watched in awe as Jasmine's flesh was reforming and healing like nothing had happened. Then suddenly Jasmine yelled out in pain. Mara jumped back, confused. I grabbed my sister as she seemed to have a seizure and then suddenly passed out.

_"That is odd. Healing magic never causes pain."  
_

For some reason I believed her. Mara looked completely taken back. She looked like a concerned mother taking care of her injured child. Mara scooped Jasmine up and, after casting a dark look at the spear that was lying on the ground, walked the way she came from.

"Isn't your house behind us?" I asked. Mara shook her head and smiled slightly.

_"This path just leads back to my backdoor. The only way out of here is through my house. How do you think I get around."_

As Mara walked back to her house. I looked at Mara as she carefully carried Jasmine and how she sang a lullaby whenever Jasmine seemed to wake up to make her go back to sleep. Now I was more confused than ever. Did Mara kill that guy? If not then how come she was carrying his body away. If so then why is she being so nice to us? This really was making no sense. I think Mara knew we were looking for a way out but unlike the other guy didn't confront us about it. Now it seems like we were heading right back to Mara's house. Right back to the place we left. This time though, after Jasmine is better, we will escape and find a way back home.


	8. The Tale of Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara finally tells the humans the tale of the asteroid.

_"Y-you want to know right?"_

I turned towards Mara who was standing in the doorway of the room she gave us, an unreadable expression on her face. Jasmine was doing way better and now she was sleeping on the bed. I was sitting next to her. I still didn't trust Mara but she has taken care of Jasmine. 

"Know what?" I asked. Mara closed her eyes for a moment.

_"What the carpet says. You can't fully read it...but I can."_

She is asking if I want to know what the carpet says. For a moment I thought she was going to talk about the human she most likely killed but nope. I guess I should listen. I was curious anyway and Jasmine isn't going to be waking up anytime soon.

"Sure."

Mara nodded and then let out a sigh.

_"L-long ago when the monsters were sent into the mountain a small group of monsters were chosen to go through a portal. They went through and almost all of them nearly died right away. Barracuda came in and saved them from the star's intense heat and then connected it to the monsters. The monsters build there society and despite the fact that they had many problems like no king or ruler and many gang wars they got pretty far. Than one day Rescue Dog came in._ _H-_he nearly died because the humans had attacked him. His companion did. Rescue Dog was sent through the portal. He became king and soon we had a running kingdom. Then I came in. It was hard at first but I felt compassion towards these monsters. I made friends with them all and West managed to change their mind about humanity. Rescue Dog even agreed. Everything went well but then a human came along and by accident..._a-attacked and n-nearly killed West. West snapped and the human killed herself out of guilt. West said that the plan is to be made and humans are to be killed for their souls except for me. I locked myself in the Human Ruins out of shame and guilt._ I-i lived their ever since and heard news as the kingdom outside only got worse and worse. Finally now it seems to be in order but ever since the fall of the Loyal Knights all those years ago nothing has ever been the same."

I noticed that Mara's voice sounded a little bit better and less shaky while she was speaking. Then Mara let out a sigh and then closed her eyes again.

_"Now we are here. Your the last human souls that the monsters need before there plan is complete."_

"What is the plan?" I asked, afraid of what the monsters needed human souls for. Mara let out a creepy chuckle before opening her eyes, her expression deadly serious.

_"Crashing into Earth killing most of the human population."_

"Oh." That was the only thing I could say. So that was the monsters grand plan.

"Isn't that suicide?" I asked. Mara shook her head.

_"barracuda made the star have a certain force field form that can protect us. Sure we expect monsters to die but no one really cares anymore. They just want this all to end."_

"Wait. You said we, are you for the plan?"

Mara looked away and stayed silent.

"If so then why help us?"  
  


_"Because I was in a similar situation. I don't wish death on all of humanity but I can't go down there and warn the few good people."_

I was about to say something else when, with a groan, Jasmine opened her eyes.

"Jass! Are you okay?"

Jasmine sat up in the bed and looked around, rubbing her head as she did so.

"Y-yeah. My head just hurts. Where are we?"

"We're in Mara's house. You got hit by a spear and Mara healed you."

Jasmine blinked her gratitude at Mara who was smiling at her like she was her friend.

"Uh thanks you. I-i guess I should have been more careful."

I nodded at her about that part but then a sudden thought hit me.

"Wait, who is Barracuda?"

Mara let out a strange laugh. Then she turned around and started walking away. Just before she was out of view though she turned back.

_"Experiment log 42, chapter 23. Read it if you want to know."_

Then she went out of sight.

"She never said which book." I pointed out. Jasmine suddenly let out a gasp.

"Mara was shocked when I read the cover of that book. I think she meant that one."

I shook my head.

"Hell no. That book predicted a spear going through your neck."

Jasmine shrugged.

"I know but..." She cut off suddenly and looked down.

"I-i am sorry."

"What for?" I asked, confused now.

"I-i thought we were dead. Now I see we aren't dead. I nearly got killed because of my recklessness."

I leaned forward and hugged Jasmine.

"Don't worry. We have each other. Now that you know we can-"

Jasmine suddenly bursted out crying on my shoulder. I started patting her back. I was really bad at comforting people. 


	9. Facing Mara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mara won't let you leave...
> 
> Mara  
Att: 450  
Def: 560  
HP: ???  
Her eyes are like flames. She won't let you leave and she might kill you trying to stop you. Killing her seems to be impossible. What is the best way out?

We finally did it. Two days in here after I got hit with a spear. We asked if we could leave and try our luck out there. I wondered what will happen next. She said the same argument that she said with the security guard. We were making our points that we needed to get home and our friends are missing us right now. Then she did something unexpected. She reached into a pocket in the couch and pulled out a gun then shot herself in the head. The bullet didn't do anything but give her a headache. Then she said a bullet will kill you and most monsters out there can survive a gun shot. We still kept on. Finally she said follow her.We did. We were now at a small door that was down the stairs. Mara was standing in front of us, in our way. She had another unreadable look on her face.

_"If you want to leave so badly then fine. Prove yourself to me. Get me down to half health and I will let you go." _I swallowed nervously. The guard didn't make it out. Mara reached into her pocket and pulled out her purple knife. She looked at it with a guilty yet angry expression before turning to face us and, with a chuckle, took a fighting stance.

....

I wondered if she was going to pull out the flamethrower but no. I was badly mistaken. She put the knife back in her right coat pocket than curled her hands into fists. Then fire somehow ignited on them. Then bones on fire shot out of nowhere and impaled the ground around us forming a path towards her. Of course somehow she was some kind of experimental human. 

_"This is what monsters have here that humans will never have. Magic."_

Magic...oh. How is that better?

Suddenly my vision darkened until most of what I can see was black except for Mara. I recognized this as a fight that the book said. Mara smiled and then waited.

_"I'll let the kids attack first." _She said to herself, looking down at the ground before looking at us again.

....

I looked at Danny. He just shrugged at me.

"We have to go home. We have to get past her." He stated. I nodded nervously. I didn't want to fight Mara nor did I want her to hurt us. She looked like she didn't really know what she was doing. I thought of fighting but I decided against it. I won't be able to do damage anyway but I still didn't want to hurt her.

"We have to get home Mara. If it was the other way around wouldn't you want to go back home?"

Mara looked confused. 

_"What? Attack me or go back. Don't talk. The time for talk is over."_

Then Mara pointed at me. Flaming blue spears came out of the wall and aimed themselves towards me. I let out a yelp. I dodged three of them but they were too fast and too many. I dodged one more before three cut me on the arm and one of them promptly stabbed me in the gut. For some reason it didn't do as much damage as I expected. The spears disappeared and Mara stopped pointing. She now waited.

"Jasmine!" Danny yelled and came running over to me. I clutched my bleeding gut and with some grit and will power got up on two feet. Mara didn't look impressed.

"Jasmine! Jasmine, are you okay?"

"I-i am fine." I told Danny in a not so fine voice. The wound did hurt but I could handle it.

"Mara, is this what you want? Keeping us here might seem safe towards you but we have opinions too. Please reconsider."

I swore I saw Mara freeze for a second, her face looking not insane at all, but it was only for a second I thought I must have missed it.

_"Better this way. Now fight me and stop complaining!"_

She pointed at Danny this time and more spears shot out of the wall. He dodged three of them but most of them cut him all over. Before the last one could hit him I grabbed the end of it and swung it around and then by accident threw it at Mara. 

"NO! Watch Out!" I cried to her. She didn't even blink. The spear enlarged and I couldn't see her. Then it crashed into the wall where she was standing...well the door. I looked through the flaming mess and saw she wasn't there.

_"...Pay attention."_

I spun around in surprise at Mara's voice behind me and saw Mara standing there with what must be about twenty red bones floating around her. She snapped her fingers and they all went towards me and Danny. Danny turned around and saw this. He quickly picked up a rock and used it as a shield. The bones stabbed it and Danny grunted at the effort to hold the large heavy rock against the bones. I dodged all of mine except one which stabbed my in the hip. Once again the bones disappeared and Mara didn't make any more moves to attack. I clutched my hip but then quickly let go when Danny turned to look so he didn't get worried. He was about to say something but I cut him off. I needed to get through to Mara. It just felt like the right thing to do.

"Why don't you go with us? If your so worried then you can protect us."

Mara looked a little taken back but she quickly recovered.

_"Nope."_

Suddenly fifty fireballs appeared in the air, their flames somehow purplish looking. Mara gritted her teeth then send them all at Danny. Danny tried his best to dodge them all but he was soon on the ground. I knew I needed to do something but what? I won't attack Mara. 

"Mara! Please stop." I cried out. To my surprise Mara did stop. She looked worried. Suddenly the remaining twenty fireballs went away. Mara was looking real nervous now, her brown eyes shrinking and turning black and they darted around. I rushed to Danny and checked on him. He was alive but barley.

"Please stop Mara. We want to go home. Please...Please Mara."

The black screen over my vision went away and Mara dropper her hands to her side. The fire went away on the bones. 

_"I-I am so-"_

A sound so strange hit my ears that I quickly located the source. Mara was standing completely still, red boxes and what seemed to be numbers appearing around her. Her right eye was filled with the word EXE. Suddenly it stopped. Mara then started chuckling. Her tears were gone and she looked completely normal except for one thing, her smile. Her eyes were closed but her smile wasn't a good one. Red fire started to spring randomly out of the ground. Mara opened her left eye, her pupil way larger and red.

_"How foolish am I? You know nothing. You will prove to me that you can survive out there. This is the only entrance. You will prove, run away, or die."  
_

Bones suddenly sprouted from the ground and impaled Danny, killing him. I screamed my pain and surprise and hugged his dead body. Mara stepped closer.

_"Doesn't that make you angry? Doesn't that make you want to fight me? Well here we go because this is the end."_

Mara waits for your move.

I looked around to who said that but no one was there. The voice sounded scared. I looked at Mara. Both of her eyes were open with her large pupils being darkened blood red. Her smile was not unsettling but terrifying. I didn't know what to feel right now. The flames were rising and the heat was intense. I noticed that suddenly I was fully healed. Mara must have healed me. When I don't know but it is the thought that counts. I looked at Mara. Mara's scarf was somehow waving like there was a wind current, her eyes were angry and insane looking, and her hands were on fire. I somehow felt the urge to help her out. It was even stronger now. I felt my will power go into surviving and talking to her.

"Mara...I don't want to fight you."

Mara didn't seem to hear, try again?

Again with that voice. I shook it off.

_"..."_

Nothing from her. Mara didn't seem to do anything at all but suddenly the ground was covered in ice. I quickly jumped up to avoid my feet from being encased in ice. When I landed I slipped and fell. I looked at Mara on the ground and saw that she had summoned ice buzz saws. Her eyes were locked onto mine and she seemed to let out something between a chuckle and a sob. The saws suddenly started making their way towards me, becoming faster and faster as they went. I dodged them but the second to last one cut my left leg. I landed on the ground again and then I noticed something. The ground beneath me was cracking and braking like something was underneath it and pushing up. I quickly remembered what happened to Danny and for a brief moment lost my concentrate on what I was doing. That costed me. I jumped up and sure enough bones sprang out of the ground, their tips sharpened. One of them got me on my left leg near the knee and went through the bone. I yelped out in pain and I landed back onto the ground. I stood their, panting, not knowing what to do. I then looked at Mara. She was waiting for my response. My turn now I guess?

"Mara...I really don't want to fight you. Please..."

Mara paused for a moment.

_"...?"_

Mara shook her head and then pulled out her knife. Suddenly red lines appeared into the air. I made sure none of them were on my. Just when I did the lines flashed red and the sound of someone slicing a knife could be heard. That was too fast! I thought. It was about three or even four seconds. I looked at Mara. She cocked her head at me, a innocent smile on her face and some confusion in her eyes.

"Mara...Please stop fighting. I won't fight you. Please Mara."

A flash of recognition flashed in Mara's eyes and for a second her smile wasn't a smile anymore. Then she seemed to think about something for a moment then she returned to how she was before, her knife in her pocket again. 

_".....?"_

She pointed at me again and bones sprung out of the ground and they formed into some kinda jump and duck pattern. It was tough but I managed to get through it without being hit.

_"You know what they do out there? You know what they will do to you?"  
_

"Is it any better than what you are doing to me right now?" I asked. All the fire suddenly seemed to falter for a moment before returning to what they were. Mara also seemed to be taken back but she shook her head again.

_"I-i may be odd but I know better then you."_

Mara readied another attack but she suddenly stopped and didn't attack. Her smile turned into a weary one and her hands fell to her sides still on fire though. For some reason her clothes didn't lite on fire.

"Mara...I am upset about my brothers death but I still want to forgive you. You don't deserve what fate has done to you. Mara you have to understand though that I have to go home...please."

The fire suddenly stopped and Mara seemed to calm down. Her breathing was raspy and ragged. Suddenly she glitched again. Then like before she stopped. Dead silence.

"Mara?" I asked. Mara said nothing. No warning, no warning whatsoever when a bone sprung out of the ground and stabbed me through my chin and into my head. I had time to realize what happened before blackness started to take over my vision. This blackness was strange though. I never was afraid of the darkness but this one...this had to be the most afraid that I have ever been in my life.


	10. ...Heh.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Mara first met West and Quest! Though they were both different back then...

This new area seemed to be covered in snow? I bend down and grabbed a couple of it. It didn't really feel cold. It felt more like power too. I noticed that a couple of specs that were on the ground were grey. I thought of picking it up but before I could I got the sudden feeling that I was being watched. I looked around. It somehow got foggier? How is that possible? I am in space. 

"Hello? Anyone there? I need help."

Nothing. I thought maybe I was being paranoid but just when I turned my head around I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes. I spun to look at them but they were gone. I started walking forwards a little bit, nervous. Suddenly I saw a large shadow through the fog. I headed towards it. I saw what the shadow was. It was a pine tree. Now I was really confused. This wasn't like the other strange plant life that I saw before. This was something that was found on earth...What is this?

Suddenly I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. I spun around to see nothing. I was now more than a little nervous. If those worms did really hear words than it means that there is life here. After walking a few more steps I noticed something on the ground. I reached down and picked it up. It was a piece of paper that seemed to be written recently. 

** Dear brother, That is you West,**

**Don't be sleeping on the job again okay? If we ever want to capture a human we must be ready!**

Bro. Why would a human ever come up here? Would they ever try and go back to us? Doesn't matter anyway.

**West, why wouldn't a human go here? They have those space shuttles made already.**

Why don't we just make our own?

**Because we kinda can't. Plus even if we could we need a massive one to get all of us down to Earth again.**   
  


Yeah, true. Alright bro I will stay awake this time just for you. I promise.

**This better not be another trick this time cause I swear West...**

Yeah yeah. It would take you one hell of a Quest though to get over here.

**West why? Why the name puns?  
**

Well because I can. Hold on I think I hear something...

The last sentence was written very recently. I could see the eraser marks. Well that was good and bad. That meant that indeed there were people here but the might be aliens and they want to capture a human, well at least one does. That also means that I am being watched right now. Maybe not but still. I put the note down where it was but just before I could do anything else I heard the crunch of a boot behind me.

"Well then, I guess my brother was right?"

I turned around. In front of me was a somewhat tall guy wearing a blue jacket. The thing that sent me off that he wasn't human was the fact that his eyes were just eye sockets with two glowing yellow pupils in them or spheres.

"Heya kid!" The guy said to me in a friendly tone. "My name is West. What's yours?"

"O-oh. I-i'm Mara." Boy was I taken by surprise. I must sound so bad right now. I must look even worse. West seemed to study me for a moment before walking past me.

"Well, uh, my brother is nowhere to be found so uh I guess your safe for now."

"Safe from what?" I asked. West turned around.

"Uh...you do know who we are right? Or should I say what we are."

I shook my head. West scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, mind me asking but how and why did you go up here?"

"O-oh! I was forced to by my family."

West looked completely taken back.

"Do they know what is up here?"

I shook my head. 

"No, they just wanted me gone and decided that me going to an asteroid would be better than going on the moon because someone could find my body."

West turned around for a second and seemed to think of something before turning towards me again. 

"Has anyone mentioned the word monsters to you as a species?"

"Some of my friends and my older sister called my family monsters. My older sister was the only one who was good to me."

West started to sweat a little bit. I noticed that his sweat was yellow.

"How about your government?" He asked.

"My Mom never lies to me and she works with the president and knows all of the secrets. Why?"

West was now looking somewhat angry.

"Any mention in your history books about the war with monsters?"

"W-what war?" I asked, mostly because the look on West's face says that I should know what he is talking about. West started chuckling to himself and then said something in some kind of strange language.

"Well kid. Welcome to the home of the monsters."

"W-what?" I asked, confused. Did he just call himself a monster?

"You see kid. Long long long long time ago there were two main species that dominated the Earth. Monsters and humans. Humans have more physical form yet we Monsters have way stronger magic. One day a war broke out between the two races...or more or less the humans betrayed us and started killing us for no reason whatsoever. Then they divided the monsters into two groups. The largest one went into a mountain while the smallest one, our group, went through a portal which lead us to here. With no way to get back home and our death sentence here we thought we were going to die for sure but, let's just say someone wouldn't let us go out that way and made the star our home as well as this asteroid. Now here we are, must be about eight point nine thousand years ago? No maybe longer."

"S-so your saying that your not aliens?" 

West shook his head.

"Nah. We're just monsters looking for a way back home. I see they kept the term monsters though." His last sentence was bitter. I wouldn't blame him. If what he said is true than humanity is worse than I thought.

"S-so...where does that leave me?" I asked, a little scared about the answer. West looked at me, a little surprised, before smiling and closing his eyes.

"No harm shall come to you. Me and my bro kinda run this town. Just try and befriend him though since he will try to capture you then bring you to Rescue Dog, our king. I'm sure our king won't kill ya but this kingdom is still in trouble and chaos. Can't say that you won't be killed by a gang on the way there."

"Oh. Thank you West."

West looked surprised at what I said. I wonder why?

"Uh, no probs kiddo."

**"WEST!"**

West shrugged at the loud voice yelling his name.

"That would be my bro now. Don't worry, he is kinda harmless. Unless you kill for fun he won't try to attack you."

West sounded a little uncertain but I didn't question him. Soon enough a tall red skinned monster came stomping up to us. He had large yellow eyes with large red diamond shaped pupils. He looked at me for a long moment before turning back to West. I noticed that on his grey sweatshirt that this guy was wearing had a yellow star with a crack going through it. He also has two large red fangs on the top of his mouth that seemed to be connected to his skin.

**"There you are West. I have urgent news. One of the humans satellite tried to get a closer look on the asteroid. Luckily the star took care of it."**

West gave me a look which said all to well is that your parents kid? I had a feeling they would want to make sure that I was dead but the fact that they controlled one of their expensive things to do it, or a satellite as what this new monster had called it.

**"Also who is this? A new monster?"**

The monsters said, looking at me. I didn't know how to feel about being called a monster so casual. 

"Nope. Meet Mara the human child." West said even more causally. I looked at him saying why?

**"Oh hi there Mara...wait a bloody second, human?"**

West nodded. "Yep."

**"HUMAN! Wait...why would they send a child?"**

"Because the humans have no idea we exist bro."

The monster looked at West then at me with a shocked look.

**"So you mean that all this time they had no idea we existed? So why is she here?"**

"Because her parents want her dead so they sent her to here. That satellite was coming close to see if she was alive or not."

The new monster's jaw dropped. 

**"Oh...Now I feel bad for having to capture you...hmm"**

He seemed to be pondering something.

**"I got it! It is said that monsters used to set up puzzles and traps before as a way to pass the time. That is what I shall use! Human! I, the Great Quest, shall capture you. If you get pass the and into the town I will stop but until then be ready for japes and puzzles and traps. Refreshments will be provided and so will friendly monsters! Get ready! NAR HAR HAR HAR!"**

Then he was off, going back the way he came. I was giggling. I think he meant to sound not threatening on purpose.

"W-well that was fun. He won't hurt you so that's a good thing."

West stood their a while longer before sighing.

"The signs will lead you to the town. Good luck! I will be up ahead."

Than West walked the way his brother had went. Even though I was on a strange place filled with monsters for some reason, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was home.

  



	11. Flames, Ice, Pain, and Sadness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of the Human Ruins. This is also going to be one of the longest ones so far. Expect more long chapters in the next area. Jasmine somehow comes back to life and faces Mara yet again. Only this time Mara seems to be acting different. She didn't kill Danny but she still won't allow Jasmine to leave and seems like she still will kill her. Can Jasmine figure out the real truth behind Mara? If you read the wiki you should know the secret already.

I opened one eye. Where was I? I opened both of my eyes. I remember now! I was fighting Mara. S-she killed me. So where was I now? The noise of a fireball coming right at me alerted me to where I was. The fireball hut me square in the chest and I was sent flying back onto the floor. Mara was standing in front of the door, the same expression on her face that she had after she killed Danny. Danny! I looked to where Danny was. I was surprised to see no bones impaling Danny. He was still knocked out but not dead. For some reason Mara didn't kill him? I got up again at Mara impatient hiss. I was somehow alive...only this time things were different? Did I get a dream of my death? No...it felt all to vivid. I felt the pain. Also, if that was the case, then how come I woke up back here? That doesn't make sense.

_"Fight me or run away coward."_

I looked at Mara. Such anger was burning in her eyes that I quickly looked away. I didn't remember her being that angry before...maybe it was because I never looked her in the eyes. Well it was my turn and I don't want to provoke her into attacking Danny.

"Mara...can't we talk this out."

Unlike last time Mara seemed to have heard me. She still coked her head though. Suddenly she snapped her fingers and red spears came out of the walls and flew at me. Unlike the one in the trap these seemed to be made out of magic since they were glowing and had no features on the. They also curved like a snake. I dodged most of them except for three. One of them sliced my cheek open while another one made a cut on my leg while the second to almost one stabbed me in my left arm. Mara once again waited for me to make a move.

"Mara...please stop fighting."

_"Have you ever wondered what it is like to be betrayed? You don't want that to happen to you. No you don't."_

Well that was new. She didn't say that last time. Does that mean that it wasn't a dream? If not then what happened? Mara suddenly stomped her right foot into the ground, causing it to crack underneath her because of her strength and her heavy spiked boots. Ice suddenly started encasing the entire ground. Remembering what happened before I carefully stepped over the ice. This time I didn't trip. Suddenly somewhat large ice balls with little spikes on them came out of the iced over ground. They then went at me. One of them hit m in my chest while another one hit me on the chin. I was now bleeding and somewhat blinded when the sound and warmth of a large fireball coming towards me came. Luckily an idea hit me. I bashed the back of my head against the wall. The pain worked! I instinctively recoiled and crouched onto the ground. The massive fireball, bigger than me, came overhead. and crashed into the wall. I noticed that the ice was gone. Mara once again cocked her head at me. Then she let out a gasp and some recognition flashed in her eyes. Then once again she went back to being the way she was before.

_"Do you think that will get you far out there? There also aren't a lot of walls so good luck."_

M-my turn. I was panting now, hands on my knees. I scraped my right knee so it was now bleeding. Great! Just perfect. I looked up at Mara again. Was it just me or was there less hate in her eyes? She smiled at me, showing her teeth. Nope, that was still a lot of hate. Her smile was extremely creepy. I wanted it to stop.

"Doing this ain't real better than what the other monsters are going to do to me in here." I pointed out.

**_"SILENCE!" _**Mara hissed, once again glitching out. She didn't really look angry at that moment. She just seemed frustrated.

_"You have no idea what it is like out there! I may be odd but I know better than you!"_

I tensed up, waiting for Mara to attack...but nothing came. Mara just crossed her arms, her right eye still flashing that EXE sign. I guess it is my turn.

"Mara...You are right. I don't know better than you...but-"

** _"THEY WILL KILL YOU JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE ALIVE! _ ** _They need your soul. Out there you a target. With me they won't dare. Do you really want humanity to be destroyed?"_

"What?"

What was she talking about. Mara sighed, her right eye stopping finally.

_"Humans put the monsters up here for no reason. Then after one attacked West, the monster that was for the humans, he snapped and ordered their destruction. Monsters are for it. It has been centuries since then and our state is only getting worse. Do you have any idea why that star is cracked?"_

I shook my head.

"Mara, if that is true, then how come they haven't attacked you yet?" Maybe I asked something like that before but my memory is a little foggy. Mara seemed to calm down somewhat and the red fire also seemed to die down. Then she shook her head again and closed her eyes, frowning and showing her teeth. For some reason I just noticed now that they were sharper than mine.

_"Because I was the first human that has ever gone up there. I made friends with them all and gave West the idea that humans deserve a second chance. Look where that got him."_

Mara opened her eyes and then pointed at me, the fire going back to the way it was before. Red knives appeared out of nowhere. Like the spears these were featureless and seemed to be glowing. They all pointed themselves at me. Quick! I don't think I could doge all of them. I must think quickly.

"If you kill us won't that give them the last soul that they need?"

Mara seemed to think long and hard about that.

"If you don't want humanity to get destroyed then why help them? I know that humanity is crooked but there are good people. People like you that didn't see monsters as a enemy. I don't either. I think in fact that I want to help them out. Them destroying humanity won't make them any better than humanity themselves."

Mara started breathing funny, her right eye once again glitching out.

_"You don't understand. Humans got their chance. She had to ruin it."  
_

That was what I was waiting for. I knew somehow that she knew the human that attacked West. I wo- Mara broke me off by glitching out again. Then, just as before, became unsettling calm looking. The fire was gone and the bones started crumbling into dust. Then she started smiling. Just like before I didn't even have time to react before a bone stabbed my, this time through my heart. Once again my world faded to black.

....

I woke again. I opened one eye and saw Mara preparing a fireball. I was back where I started. I barely had time to recognize that before she threw the fireball at me. I tried to dodge it but it somehow cut me on my right cheek, slicing it open with a sizzling sound. Mara seemed really confused at something for a moment, her smile turning into a confused frown. her eyes normal, before turning back the way she was. Maybe it is me but I swear I never noticed that she had a red outline on her. I looked at Mara, a feeling of empathy towards her now. I know somewhat her story. I don't then she hates humanity because someone she knew attacked West or really because of the tale of the Monsters. Think of it, why would a human child go here? The same reason we are here. Her parents. I bet you they were abusive, not like our father. I also noticed something strange. During I think the first time when me and Danny met the worms one of them said something at the end. That sentence was Mara but she sounded...a lot younger? It didn't make much sense until now. How long until that accident? She had said centuries. That was a long time but the way she said it made me think that she was lying. I already know that Mara somehow is very old. Very old but somehow still a child...a child that was wise. She may be odd but her experience is something to note. That was why she said that. She knows it too. The guard made the mistake oft hinting that she didn't really know what is up. Mara wants to change but her strange glitch thing makes her somewhat violent. I think she doesn't really know, or can't know, that she is acting like what she was warning. She also was alone for very long. By her diary she rarely went out and visited West. I think I know how to finally beat her.

_"I think it is only fair if your brother helps you out."_

I perked up at what Mara said. Mara suddenly snapped her fingers and a green cloud appeared around Danny. Soon it was gone. I waited until Danny woke up. I wanted to change his mind about Mara too. Danny finally got up with a groan, confused. He looked at Mara and bolted right up. I grabbed him before he fell down and pulled him up. I gave him a look which he used with me all the time. Let me talk. I turned towards Mara but she suddenly raised her hand into the air. I looked up, expecting to see bones or fire or some kind of magical weapon above us but instead me and Danny flew up to the roof. We landed on it like it was the floor. I looked at Mara and she was looking up at us, on the ground that we were just on. So she can control gravity...great. Suddenly cracks started to form under my feet.

"Jasmine...JUMP!" 

I listened to Danny's command quickly. As soon as I did bones sprang out of the roof. They would have impaled me if I was still there. Suddenly I was falling. I landed onto the ground with a hard thump, Danny falling in front of me. I was dazed and barely noticed as the ground beneath me started to crack. Danny did and he sprang up and rolled me over. The roll saved me from being impaled but one bone scratched my left hand. I got up and waited for more attacks but none came. Our turn. I can finally talk.

"Mara...the human that attacked West...was it your sister?"

The fire died immediately and she glitched out again. Only when she stopped she wasn't like the unsettling calm version of Mara like before. She was just silent...her red outline gone. 

"Am I right? It doesn't matter. Mara, I know that you know better than us. You've been here for so long...and you had no one really visiting you. You must be really lonely huh?"

Mara stayed silent. Even Danny wasn't giving me a look.

"I may be wrong here but while humanity may be crooked I still think they have redeeming qualities. I think they can change, don't you?"

Mara let out a nervous chuckle, some tears in her eyes which were finally normal. The black filter faded. The fight was over...right? I noticed while the blackness was mostly gone some of it was still there meaning that we were in the battle. 

"The thing is...I don't really want to leave. You have been here for so long. I know out there is dangerous and your right. But even if I do want to go home I can't let you be like this. Besides, it isn't really that bad in here. So, if you want me to, can I live here with you? I-i just want you to be alright."

Danny was giving me a shocked look. Mara, Mara was shaking. Suddenly she started crying, her hands going to her face as she covered it. Tears fell in between her hands. I was about to comfort her when she stopped crying.

_"Heh heh heh."_

I didn't like her laugh. She stopped covering her face. Her eyes, they were blood red, her pupils blue. Her tears were red and still coming but she was no longer sobbing. She smiled, her smile dangerously insane looking and even scarier than before.

** _"How stupid of me. I know what your trying to do. You even brought up my sister. I thought something was off. You can reset Jasmine...To think that-"_ **

I was now very confused. What was she talking about? Suddenly she snapped her fingers and the door opened up, a breeze of cold air reaching my leg.

** _"L-leave now. I won't be easily fooled."_ **

"B-but-"

** _"LEAVE BEFORE I KILL YOU AND DANNY! YOU WANT OUT THEN GET OUT!"_ **

I ran out of the door with Danny. I heard the door closing behind me. I stopped and turned around, looking at Mara. She had her back turned to the door but she was facing me her right eye looking into mine. Her right eye seemed normal except her pupil was yellow. Bitter anger and sadness was in them. Red tears were still running down her cheek and she looked at me with a look of disgust. Then the door closed, taking with it my chances of being with Mara and making me feel more afraid than ever.


	12. The new monsters?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the book! The humans finally get out of the Human Ruins only to meet the very person that Mara was talking about right off the bat, West! Then comes in Sara and then Quest and Lora and...well I guess you have to find out yourself now won't you?

  
The world outside sure is different. The ground was covered in some stuff that looked like snow but when I touched it, it didn't feel cold. It was a little bit cold but it wasn't snow. It was flaky too. Flaky and unnatural. It felt like it didn't belong here. The place outside was also surrounded by dense dark pine wood trees. I wonder how they grew here. We were in space after all. Then again, if we can breath here than i'm sure other animals and living things can breath here also.  
  


"What is this place?" Jasmine asked, wonder in her voice as she looked around. I can see how this might be amazing but for some reason it was just threatening and foreboding. The entire forest looked deadly. I also noticed that the light from the star was somehow reddish. The red lighting and the creepy looking pines and even the unnatural snow all gave me one sign; run away while you still can. No wonder Mara likes to stay inside. This place looks creepy and if Mara was right about the monsters that live here too than it is even more deadly than what it looks like, which is pretty deadly looking.

Suddenly Jasmine jumped a little.

"What is it?" I asked her. Jasmine shook her head.

"I swear I saw something in the tree line."

....

“I swear someone is watching us Danny!” I complained for the fifth time. Danny just shook his head. 

“We have been watching the tree line and checking the big boulders and on top of cliffs and everywhere. That figure is gone Jasmine.”

“That’s what you think.” I said, crossing my arms and turning away from him indignantly.

“You are a handful, aren’t you?” Danny muttered. Suddenly we both heard a heavy thump and we spun to our right and saw a person.

_ “Aw shite.” _

The person went closer. The person... wasn’t really a person. The “person” was human looking with pure white skin but...his eyes. He wore a grey jacket with orange and yellow patterns on both of his arms in a rectangle and had two green triangles on both side of his jacket divided by his closed zipper. The person had spike sneakers on and wore black shorts with a white stripe on both sides on them. Then we came to his face and that was what made me think that he wasn’t human. His smile was weary and he had a single gold tooth on the left side of his mouth. His eyes though...they were wrong. Like Mara he had big black bags underneath them but he had no “eyes”. Instead he had two eye sockets that were just black. He had a large yellow sphere in his right one but his left one he had a small yellow sphere but that had a large red ring around it. He was also sweating yellow sweat and his entire left side of his face had a large jagged serious looking crack on it than ran down to his smile. He also had a large white fur hood on his jacket.

_ “O-oh hi kid! Kids...uhh...w-well this is awkward.” _

And I thought Mara was bad! This person sounded so much worse. His eyes seemed to be looking around but it was too quick to tell for sure. The bags under his eyes and his weary smile and his gold tooth and how his eyes are weary looking, wait, how can eye sockets narrow and do stuff like that? Well his were. Along with the sweat I now could see that this person was an even worse case than Mara. While Mara looked depressed and lonely this person looked weary and paranoid as all hell. But even so I recognized his voice, it just took me a second to realize who it was.

“Your West, right?” I asked even though I am pretty sure I already know the answer.

_ “Uh yeah. How did you know?” _West asked. I was about to say from the conversation but Danny jumped in.

“We uh, we were told what you looked like by Mara.”

I looked at Danny and he looked at me. I recognized the “be careful” look and so I decided to be quiet. West seemed to be thinking of something for a moment but his smile didn’t let down.

_ “Alright.” _ He said suddenly, _ “Did you hurt her?” _

I didn’t like how he didn’t seem bothered at all while asking the question.

“What? Of course we didn’t hurt her. We wanted to help her she just... She thought we were going to do something bad to her so she threw us out of there and told us to never come back.”

My voice trailed off at the end. I just don’t get why she would do that? Does she not trust humans that much that even after what I said to her she thought we were going to do something bad to her?

West looked at me for a couple of long seconds before closing his eyes.

_ “W-well my brother is up ahead so you best be careful now. See you around until then...or maybe soon. Hell if I know right?” _

West started laughing nervously.

_ “J-just go up on ahead.” _He snapped, his eyes hard. Then, without waiting to see if we go or not, turned around and walked away.

"Well that was awkward."

"Danny!" I scolded. Danny shrugged.

"It was! Well we now know who West is. Is he also a human?"

"I think Mara called him a monster."

Danny shook his head.

"Are monsters not like the kraken or dragons?"

"I think I get what they are."

"Well?" Danny said, looking at me.

"Maybe they are like us being mostly humanoid but they just look off."

"So humans that look weird then. That makes no sense though if you check our history."

"We need to see another one before we make our call." I decided. Danny nodded and we were off...for about two minutes before I saw West standing in a clearing. He turned around when we came closer and for a second he seemed to panic before calming down.

_ "W-well look who finally came. Took you kids about three minutes." _

"How did you get ahead of us?" Danny asked, a confused look on his face. I was pretty sure he just went into the woods to get ahead of us without us noticing but I said nothing. West just chuckled.

_ "I have my ways...wait, do you hear that?" _

West suddenly perked up and he looked up ahead. Somehow fog started picking up in the area. I heard what West was hearing though. It was the sound of someone walking our way.

_ "Quick! Behind that pile of garbage." _

Danny pointed at a pile of junk just randomly lying there. I picked out a broken yet somewhat large lamp and beckoned Danny to hide behind it. West started snickering as we struggled to hide ourselves behind it.

_ "S-sure, hide behind that unconventionally shaped broken lamp that my bro threw out days ago, four to be exact, instead of under that dirty blanket that will hide you kids perfectly." _

I panicked and was about to change cover when Danny stopped me. It was too late to change and if I did I would get caught by the person who now just walked into the clearing.

_ **"West! Now that I am hear we can talk about business finally."** _

West nodded and then, then he cast a look at us. He might give our cover away! For some reason though I felt like he was doing it on purpose.

_"Y-yep. Yes we can Sara."_

I wanted to look at Sara but I was afraid that if I did she would see me.

_ **"Uh huh. Anyway what are you even doing out here? Wait, are you finally patrolling alone! God this must be a miracle"** _

For some reason she didn't really sound sarcastic. She sounded surprised and happy.

_"N-nah, you got me all wrong. I was just staring at this lamp that my bro threw out."_

I nearly let out a gasp. Danny stopped himself from acting out.

** _"...I see. So you weren't patrolling by yourself?"_ **

_"Nope."_

** _"Hmm...were you visiting Mara again?"_ **

So Sara also knows Mara. That is great to know.

_"Nope. Not this time. Just looking at t-this lamp. I wonder why my bro threw it out?"_

Sara let out an annoyed hiss. 

** _"Please stop talking about that damn lamp. It is ugly enough. Listen West, I am tired and cranky and right now after we have this meeting I am gonna take a damn nap so please just talk."_ **

_"Did you take a Quest to get over here?"_

I don't get it.

** _"West I swear to god don't you dare start now."_ **

_"Oh come on, I did that quickly."_

** _"That was not an original pun West."_ **

_"Y-yeah yeah your right. I used that joke plenty of times but hey, we're dying anyway so I might as well make everyone suffer with me. Besides, if we survive the crash I will tell everyone a crash course on human puns"_

Sara started snickering. I don't get what was so funny. Wait, Mara said that the plan was to crash into Earth, and West said crash course into human puns, meaning that th-

I suddenly got the pun and I covered my gasp of surprise. That is dark. Really really dark...though I couldn't tell if that was a joke or a promise.

** _"Good luck talking to one alive."_ **

_"Maybe that lamp will help me with that."_

_ **"Bloody fucking god dammit West. Shut up about that fricken lamp."** _

Suddenly I heard the sound of heavy boots coming into the clearing.

**"WEST! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"**

_"Oh hi bro."_

"So this is where you went West. We were just about to have a meeting, though Alert Dog and Magma Dog are busy."

_ **"God dammit Lora, I swear you just know when I am tired to throw the meetings when I haven't seen you all day."** _

**"SO YOUR SAYING THAT YOUR TIRED? WELL TO BAD! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE HAVING RIGHT NOW SO DEAL WITH IT."**

_"Nice to see that your not tired bro."_

** _"Yeah."_ **

How quickly things have escalated. Now there were two more people here. People or monsters or humans? I don't know anymore. 

_"Yo bro, I really think you should reconsider throwing out that lamp. I think it looks really cool."_

_ **"Shut up about the lamp."** _

**"Ahh, NO."**

"Can we have our meeting now?"

**"WAIT, IF THEY ARE TIRED THEN THEY WON'T LISTEN IN...WE MOST POST PONE THE MEETING!"**

** _"Please shut up. Your giving me a headache."_ **

"We can't post pone the meeting! We post poned it yesterday than later today since West was missing."

_"Yata yata. Now bro, I told you I was looking at the lamp."_

**"YOU DID?"**

"YOU DID!?"

** _"West I swear to fu-"_ **

"HOW COME YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?"

**"I DIDN'T REMEMBER!"**

_"Bro calm down. Now can we talk about the la-"_

I heard the sound of something flying in the air and suddenly a red bone broke the lamp we were hiding behind and nearly impaled Danny in the back. All the arguments stopped and I turned around and saw all of them looking at me. I let out a nervous chuckle while Danny just face palmed. All of the people there were human looking. One of them was really tall with red skin. He had somewhat spiked afro like black hair. His eyes were large and rectangle in shape and his pupils were red while the rest of his eye was yellow. He had a large mouth with four fangs the same color as his skin. They seemed to be connected to his skin. The two large pointy ones were on top and at the bottom near the corner of his mouth were two smaller ones. His mouth was full of sharp long pointed teeth. He wore a black chest plate with a faded yellow star in the middle of it with a large crack running through it that started at his right shoulder and ended at his left hip. Hi chest plate seemed to be grey. He had orange shoulder spikes with one being small while the one further from his neck was larger. There were also four of them, two on both sides of his neck. He wore heavy black boots with yellow spurs on the end with raspberry colored shoelaces. He also wore long black sweats with a raspberry colored stripe on each leg. He even had a blue scarfish looking cape! He looked so cool! Unfortunately I was so focused on him that I didn't even look at what the others looked like.

**"OH MY GOD IS THAT A HUMAN!? Wait...TWO HUMANS!"**

West nodded. Sara gave him a really look before sighing.

_ **"Come on sis, we got to get ready to capture them I guess. Bloody hell why is there a human now? Especially two? I am way to tired fo-"** _

The rest of her words trailed off as she dragged what I can only assume is Lora away back in the direction they came from. The really cool one looked at West then posed dramatically, looking extremely cool.

**"HUMANS! GET READY FOR YOUR CAPTURE! ME AND THE GANG AND ALSO THE FINDERS SHALL CAPTURE YOU AND MAYBE BRING YOU TO THE CAPITAL. THEN, THEN..."**

He was so cool! I wo-

**"Either way you will die and your soul will be taken to power up our engines."**

I was still in amazement but now shook.The cool guys eyes seemed to be glowing red. Well his pupils. I think by his voice that his name is Quest? 

**"NARR HAR HAR HAR HAARR!"**

Then Quest stomped off, his cape or now that I look at it from his side scarf made to look like a cape flying behind him. West looked at us, smiled wider, flipped off us, and when Danny gave him a look he shrugged and then walked after his brother. 

"What the hell have we just gotten ourselves into?" Danny grumbled.


	13. West and Quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans are now going to have to get past West and Quest. They give them hard puzzles to get past...only these are somewhat deadly...and the monsters here don't seem to know that or just don't care. This is going to be fun. Luckily it started "snowing."

Of course after sometime of walking it was West that we saw first. Quest was also with him. Quest was yelling at him when we saw him. West pointed at us. I was too far away to hear what they were saying but from what I could hear they were talking about puzzles or something. Quest looked towards where West was pointing and saw us.

**"GREAT! NOW WE HAVE THE HUMANS COMING AT A FASTER RATE THAN USUAL. Sigh. WHY IS IT THAT MOST OF THE FINDERS AREN'T NEAR THIS PART? EVER SINCE THAT EXECUTION EVENT OR GANG WAR THE MONSTERS ALWAYS STAYED AWAY FROM HERE. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN TH-"**

Quest let out an aggravated sigh before turning around and just started walking away. Jasmine let out a sigh of disappointment for some reason. West shrugged at us and then turned around and followed his brother. Just before he went out of sight he turned back.

_"BUSINESS TALK!"_

Then he turned around and went out of sight.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. Jasmine just shrugged. 

"Let's see what they have in store for us!" Jasmine said excitedly, skipping ahead.

"Jasmine wait! Ugh."

I followed her. Ever since we left Mara she has been acting weird. After a bit of walking a rabbit person walked into the path we were on. It was some kind of blue rabbit monster wearing grey and red outfit. The outfit looked strange. I waved at it and it waved back. Then it just walked away. I guess that answers our question about whenever or not the monsters were just strange humans. Apparently not. After some more walking we finally caught up to West and Quest. Lora was with them too but she turned towards us and left. I never got a good look at her since she left so quickly.

**"OH HO! HERE COME THE HUMANS! Achem, HUMANS! I HAVE THE HONOR OF GETTING THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE FOREST TO TRAP YOU. I WILL NOT WASTE MY TIME SO GET READY! THIS IS THE FIRST PUZZLE OF TWO AND ALSO YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO THE TRAP YET SO...yeah..."  
**

Quest scratched his arm nervously while West started sweating more.

_"U-uh bro, should we tell them what it is?"_

Quest shook his head and seemed to regain focus.

**"YOUR ARE RIGHT WEST! HUMANS, RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! THERE ARE HIDDEN WALLS THROUGHOUT THE MAZE THAT WILL GIVE YOU A ELECTRIC SHOCK IF YOU FAIL! WILL YOU BE ABLE TO SENSE THE ELECTRICITY OR WILL YOU JUST END UP GETTING SHOCKED? NARR HAR HAR HAR!"**

West started snickering again.

_"Boy I should have brought my popcorn...wait, I don't really like popcorn that much. Heh heh..."_

He edged closer to Quest, looking extra nervous. Jasmine took a step forward, amazed at the seemingly empty space in front of us.

"So cool..."

"Jasmine." I gently nudged Jasmine. Jasmine looked at me with a what look. 

"The trap." I whispered to her. She nodded and looked somewhat nervous.

I took a step forward and I tried to sense where I was going. Nothing. I took another step and then another.

"Danny." Jasmine warned. I checked around again but I still didn't feel anything. Then I took another step forward. I got a sudden jolt and it was Jasmine who saved me. Somehow though the electricity affected both of us. After the pain stopped I looked up again. For some reason I felt that if Jasmine hadn't pulled me back I would have died. We tired again with the same outcome and then again. The progress was tedious and painful. Quest was looking very disappointing and West was giggling like crazy.

_"O-oh man it hurts to watch...yet then again it is so exciting to watch."_

I was now beginning to hate West now. He is such a jerk. It finally seemed like we were making progress when I slipped up and suddenly, with a jolt, I was launched into Jasmine and we were sent flying back into the beginning.

_"BAHAHAHHAHAHA!"_

West's laugh was just adding insult to injury. Quest made a tsk tsk noise.

**"The old restart at the end trick. I can't believe humans fell for that."**

Quest let out a sigh while Jasmine looked heart broken at his disapproval. What is with her? West stopped laughing finally and put his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Q-question?"

Quest perked up.

**"WHAT IS IT?"**

"If one of us make it across will you disable the puzzle so the other one can pass?"

**"YES I CAN AND I WILL IF ONE OF YOU MAKES IT."**

I was about to ask what Jasmine was thinking when she suddenly went into the maze again. I thought for sure she was going to get herself killed but nope, she somehow was avoiding all the "walls" of the maze. Near the end she hit into a wall. The zap of electricity was visible yet somehow Jasmine survived and she managed to regain her bearings and she finished the maze. I was shocked and impressed. West was also shocked, a what the hell just happened look on his face. Quest was almost cartoonish looking, his eyes puffed out and white and his pupils black. His jaw was dropped open and amazement was in his eyes. After staring for a couple of more moments he regained his composure and he cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

**"VERY IMPRESSIVE. A DEAL IS A DEAL."**

Quest snapped his fingers and a blue orb appeared in his hand. Then he touched the wall of the maze and all the electricity went into his hand and then into the orb. Then he threw the orb into a pile of snow. It somehow went through it like it was nothing. I looked at Jasmine to see if she saw what I saw but she was blushing and staring at the ground. What the hell is up with her?

**"WELL, YOU PAST THE FIRST PUZZLE. CONGRATS! NEXT PUZZLE WON'T BE SO EASY SO GET READY BECAUSE I KNOW I AM! NARR HAR HAR HAR!"**

Quest then spun around, doing a cool cape or scarf trick and walking away. Me and Jasmine walked up to West who was muttering something under his breath...or maybe to someone since he defiantly seemed to be talking to someone. He looked up when we approached.

_"W-well congratulations on deserve! I honestly expected you to die on this one. I don't know how much human children can survive a jolt but I don't think they can survive ten thousand jolts...which begs the question how did you survive a full on jolt instead of the little ones that little old Danny kept on getting."_

What he had just said struck me. We could have died on that trap. 

"Oh." Jasmine said, sounding lost. West started snickering again, his nervous eyes narrowing into a piercing gaze of hatred.

_"Don't get me wrong here kids, your still going to die. Whenever it be by us, Rescue Dog, the Finders, or Kel, or even G-Dog and Cyber Dog, boy do we have a lot of monsters named "dog" in here. You do get what I am saying right? No matter how much you try..._ ** _I SAY YOUR TIME HERE IS LIMITED._ ** _"_

When West said that his pupils disappeared, making him have nothing but blank eye sockets. It was extremely unsettling. Then West walked the way we just came from. Strange...but right now I have other things more important than questioning him. I turned around to talk to Jasmine but she was already walking forward. Soon I will ask her. Right now might as well go see the next puzzle.

....

"Oh! There he is!" 

Jasmine grabbed my sleeve and tugged me along. After a few feet I saw what she was talking about. Standing in area ahead of me was Quest and of course West. How did he get ahead of us again? 

**"AHH! FINALLY THE HUMANS HAVE ARRIVED...took them long enough."  
**

_"Y-yep, sure did."_

West gave us a look which I didn't understand before looking at Quest again.

**"IN THIS SQUARE BEFORE YOU IS A SIMPLE TIC TAC TOE LIKE GAME. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, YOU MUST MAKE ALL THE O'S INTO X'S. DOING THIS WILL UNLOCK THE SPIKES THAT ARE BEHIND ME AND WEST AND ALLOW YOU TO PROCEED. GOOD LUCK."**

I looked at what Quest was talking about. In front of us lies a ten foot by ten foot square...I think. If we can solve this than we can go on. Large boulders acted as walls in between some of the letters on the ground. The O's were blue and the X's were red. This seemed to be the same trap we faced in the Human Ruins. I wondered what messing up would get us? On second though never mind. Probably something horrible. Without a further ado let the puzzle begin.

....

This was harder than the one in the Human Ruins. The ground was ice and if we slipped or took a wrong step we slide all the way to the edge of the cliff where Quest will raise his hand, and somehow lift us into the air and settle us back in the start. Well at least that was something, right? When we failed the puzzle West would snap his fingers and the puzzle would reset and then Quest would bring us back to the beginning. This had to be our eighth attempt. We were so close...then again it has been almost an hour. Quest once again looked very disappointed while West, once again, was snickering at us. Suddenly it started to snow? The flakes that were on the ground were falling from the sky. How is that possible. Suddenly a large black smoldering clump of black flakes landed in front of us. Jasmine let out a yelp and fell on the ice which slid her onto an x and she fell off the cliff. Quest sighed and once again raised his hand and brought her back to the beginning. More and more black clumps of smoldering flakes started falling from the sky. Quest looked up then back at West and gave him some sort of signal. West seemed to complain a little but then sighed.

**"Achem. HUMANS! DUE TO BAD WEATHER THAT WILL KILL YOU SINCE YOUR NOT USED TO IT WE WILL CALL OF THE PUZZLE AND I WILL BRING YOU TO A SHELTER. West, if you will?"**

West sighed, his smile turning into a frown for a second, and he snapped his fingers and all the o's turned into x's and the spikes behind them went down.

"What are these?" I asked, kicking a pile of the black flakes. 

_"The closest thing you'll get to snow up here." _West replied flatly.

_"Radiation filled flakes that act like snow. Because they are poisonous the only plant life that can survive it are these dark pine wood trees. The black ones can cause some kind of cold bitterness being near it for long and for you humans it will melt your skin off."_

Well it was an straight forward answer to my question but that did not make me feel better.

"Alright then. Can you lead us to safety?" I asked, scared to stay out here any longer.

**"SURE! FOLLOW ME!" **Quest said, turning around and his cape flying up in the air once more.


	14. Lora and Sara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The humans finally reach the trap that Quest and West have talked about and when they try to get past it Danny gets injured. Jasmine passes out and someone named Magma Dog takes her to Sara and Lora and takes Danny to his house. While Lora talks to Magma Dog she orders Sara to keep Jasmine busy.

Finally we saw Quest again. He was talking with someone. Is that...is that a dog? That is! He was talking to a small pale dog with fox like ears. He looks so cute! The dog turned and looked at us then back and Quest, then back to us, the back to Quest. Quest turned to see what the dog was looking at and saw us. 

**"OH HO! THE HUMANS FINALLY ARRIVED. HUMANS! THIS IS THE TRAP THAT ME AND WEST HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT. WILL YOU GET PAST IT AND GO ON TO SECTOR TWO? OR WILL YOU HAVE A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH IT? I DON'T KNOW AND NOR DO I REALLY CARE. THIS WAS MADE BY THE AMAZING ALERT DOG!"**

Quest pointed at the little dog which jumped up and down, its tail wagging back and fourth. I just now noticed that its right ear was torn and it had a black scar over its right eye. It also had large cute eyes.

"Oh my god! Humans! I can't believe it! What would Magma Dog do if I told him...hmm."

He even sounded like an energetic kid. Alert Dog turned and whispered something in Quest's ear, which Quest had to bend down so Alert Dog could whisper something into his ear. I found that somewhat funny. Quest nodded and then stood up.

**"HUMANS! FINISH THIS TRAP AND MEET SARA AND LORA UP AHEAD. IF YOU SEE A RED AND ORANGE DOG THAT LOOKS LIKE ALERT DOG OVER HERE TELL HIM CODE PASS. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"**

Danny nodded, a serious look on his face. 

**"GOOD!"**

Then Quest turned around, his scarf cape flying into the air making him even more cool, then he walked away. Alert Dog gave us a nice smile before running after Quest. I smiled at him as he left. He was so cute! Suddenly Danny screamed. I turned towards him only to see that he was gone. 

"Danny? Danny!?" 

No response. I then looked down. Danny was in a pit with a cobweb over his mouth. I guess that was the trap. I keeled down and gave him my hand. With some effort I managed to get him out of the trap and take off the cobweb on his mouth. 

"What happened?" I asked. Danny clutched his right leg.

"I don't know? I just walked forward and fell!"

Blood started seeping out of the wound. I quickly pulled out a bandage that we brought with us in our colonization pack or whatever and put it on. 

"We need to go into a building or something." 

"We could go back to the shed that we spent the night in?" I suggested. Danny shook his head. 

"West was that way and I don't trust him at all."

Suddenly a spear went right in between us. Then a big red and orange dog walked up to us. The spear he had thrown at us went back over his head. It was a dark grey color with black circles and stripes on it.

"Alright you humans. I ran into Alert Dog so I know of your "special" case."

His voice sounded really rough. I couldn't see much of what he looked like since my vision was becoming foggy. Like really foggy. Suddenly a explosion of pain went off in my head. I let out a whimper and fell to the cold flaky ground, blackness coming over my vision. 

....

_ **"Is she awake yet?"** _

"I don't know. Maybe they are playing dead?"

** _"Why don't we just kill her now? It would be so much easier."_ **

"Because I want a challenge. Plus it would go down better in history. How did you kill the last human? We killed her in their sleep."

_ **"...Right. Monsters that want to go back to Earth have to wait until you can make the last human's death interesting. Got it."** _

"Your a jackass you know that?"

_ **"Langue sis."** _

"Fu-"

** _"I think she is waking sis."_ **

I let out a groan and opened one eye. My head felt like someone was beating it with a bat. My eyesight was blurry but it soon started to clear up. I was laying down inside a house. I was on a couch. I got up and rubbed my eyes. How did I get here? I put my hand to my head and winced as the pain increased and quickly put my hand down.

"Hello? Anyone here?"

Suddenly a red cloud of smoke appeared right in front of me. When it died down a girl was in it. I recognized the girl from before. She was wearing a grey chest plate with a golden star on it with a crack going through the star but unlike Quest's it was not going through her entire chest plate. She had sharp teeth and yellow eyes and red pupils. In her hand was a large red bone. She was tan in color and had light brown hair.

"HELLO HUMAN! Magma Dog dumped you next to us and then promptly left so we saved you and brought you here."

Magma Dog? Who was that? I tried to remember what happened before but nothing. Everything was blank. Everything except for Quest, Mara, and-

"Danny! Do you know where Danny is?" I asked hurriedly. Lora looked up.

"Were there two humans?"

** _"Yes I think so. I think Magma Dog just took him to his house to decide what to do with him."_ **

"What?" Me and the monster in front of me said.

"We must have two humans! It will be fairer for Quest and West."

** _"True dat."_ **

I looked up to where the other voice was coming from. there was a second level balcony above me with another human looking monster there brushing her teeth. Her teeth were fangs. Large white fangs. She has red eyes with yellow cat like pupils and a yellow scar under her left eye and slightly above her mouth. She wore a raspberry colored jacket with black and red sweatpants. On the sleeves of her jacket was a red stripe. She also wore a white t-shirt underneath her jacket. Her zippers were also yellow.

The other girl let out a sigh and then walked to the front door of the house and opened it.

"Keep the human here. Answer their questions if they have any until I get back. That is an order."

The other one which looked older by a year or two nearly spat out her toothbrush.

** _"Wha? You can't be serious Lora. Me, take care of a human? Your tripping."_ **

"Do I look like I am tripping Sara? Now get to it! AND NONE OF YOUR TRICKS OR FUNNY BUSINESS!"

Then she was out of the door. Sara snorted then went into what I can only assume by the white tiles and white wall was the bathroom. After about a minute I heard a sink turn on then after another thirty seconds it turned off and out came Sara. Sara mumbled something under her breath then came down the pine wood stairs. 

"Hi! My name is Jasmine. Is yours Sara?" I asked, smiling and genuinely trying to get to be her friend. Sara gave me a weird look. Now that she was downstairs I just realized how tall she was. She was bigger than my dad's creepy lanky advisory. So was Lora.

** _"Here is some friendly advise kid. Call my sister Lorca instead of Lora like how it is spelled. She hates that name."_ **

"Alright."

Sara sighed and took a sat down on the couch.

** _"Bloody Lora, making me babysit. It is almost time for my break for crying out loud. Then I have to go talk to Quest's and West's father whi-"_ **

"They have a father? What's his name?"

Sara cast me a sideways glance before closing her eyes.

_ **"Doctor Belnargd."** _

"Oh. What is he a doctor of?"

** _"Heh heh. You know, experiments, medicines, the engines and the shield that we are going to use to destroy your human cities. The usual."_ **

I didn't really get what she was trying to do. I kinda expected him to do something like that. She also sounded like she was trying to scare me.

"Alright then."

Sara looked at me with a really weird look. 

** _"So kid. Why are you up here? That space program?"_ **

I tried to remember why I was up here again but nothing clicked.

"I don't remember." I told her honestly. Sara nodded, closing her eyes and leaning back into the couch more, her hands behind her head. 

** _"Say I got a question. How long do you expect that flower on your head to survive for?"_ **

"What flower?"

Sara gave me a weird look. Why was she doing that so much?

_ **"The one that is in your hair. It is cool that it can survive with no roots or water but don't you know that our "snow" here is poisonous? Why do you think we have all these dark pine wood trees and nothing else?"** _

I thought back and I remembered that the area where I met Quest was surrounded by dark pine wood trees.

"Never really gave it a thought to be honest."

Sara grunted then stopped leaning back in the couch.

** _"So how do you like our house? Is it bad or good? Be honest. We- uh, we never had someone from Earth look at it before."_ **

She sounded somewhat sad and lonely when she said that. 

"I think it is nice!" I said honestly. While it was mostly dark wood it also had some painted areas like the walls were a light brown and the fireplace was a nice orange color. There were two red rugs with gold patterns on it. one in front of the couch and the other upstairs.

Sara nodded at what I said then closed her eyes.

_ **"Listen kid. If you manage to befriend my sister and Quest as well as Alert Dog you can actually live here. You see we our the rulers of most of the asteroid. We are the boss. Most monsters have mixed feelings on humans and the ones who want you dead will have to get through us which no one wants to do So if you do make it please stay because out there...I can't promise anything"** _

I thought real hard about what she had just said. Now another person is asking me to stay instead of the other way around.

"May I think of it?" I asked. Sara was looking away from me.

** _"Sure."_ **


	15. Danny is back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lora brings Danny to the house. Jasmine wakes up and after a nice chat with Sara before she leaves wakes up Danny.

I walked up to the door and thought about busting open the door and most likely waking up my sister and most likely the second or first human. Yet for some reason I wanted to see what is happening. Did Sara kill the second human? Jasmine is her name right? I knew that Sara would eventually attack the humans in the end and if West doesn't change he will attack them to. I know just how much they have been hiding. A mental war happening in their minds. Then of course the experiments and their history and their talks with Barracuda and because both of them were alive when Rescue Dog came in and learned even more of the truth about humanity and yada yada. What i mean to say is they really hate humanity but they also have really mixed and messed up feelings towards them. I guess I just wanted to see what they are doing without Sara knowing that I am home. I peeked in through one of the windows. At first I saw Sara sitting on the couch, clearly asleep. Then I saw the other human, Jasmine, asleep leaning on Sara's shoulder. I couldn't help but let out a smile. I don't hate humanity, far from it actually. But my sister does. She does so to an unhealthy extend. Now seeing her with a human child resting on her shoulder is giving me a sparkle of hope. I walked back from the window and to the front door. I knew if I knocked that it would wake up Sara but if I went in slowly Sara might be taken by surprise about the new human that I have on my shoulder. What to do what to do? After a while of thinking I decided to just go in. I opened the door slowly and went inside. I made sure to be extra stealthy and put the second human into one of our guest bedrooms. I remembered when we used to have friends over and how they stayed in the guest rooms. They now remained empty and have been for years and years. After tucking him in I closed the door behind me. After remembering about the past some more I went into my room. It was getting late out. I didn't expect it to take so long to get the second human from Magma Dog. That was partly due to him and the human not being there and me and Alert Dog looking for him. Now it was late and I am tired. We'll run the humans through sections three's puzzles tomorrow after talking about it with Quest and finally having our meeting.

....

I woke up in a strange bed. I got up and shook my head. What happened? I looked around. The room was too dark to see much detail but I could make out a window behind the bed and a red wardrobe against the wall to the left of the bed. I also noticed a small basket full of stuffed animals next to the white painted door. The entire room was painted white. The bed was comfortable with a blue star blanket and a yellow pillow. I looked out the window and saw the shining star. It was somehow closer than before yet nothing is happening to the asteroid. I could also see that wherever we are the rock was showing. Only parts of the ground was covered in snow. Wait? Didn't Quest say that it wasn't snow. It was something called flakes right? Well it doesn't really matter since I am not outside. I got off the bed and noticed that my shoes were off. i saw them in the corner with the star light which is way better than any moonlight. I put them on and opened the door. It seemed to be nighttime here. All the lights in the house were off and I didn't hear anything other than the sound of someone snoring. I went over and realized that I was on a balcony. I looked down and saw Jasmine. I nearly called out her name but I knew better. I also noticed why if I did call out her name how it could have went south real fast. Jasmine was sleeping on someone's shoulder. I recognized Sara. I guess we were in Lora's and Sara's house. Sara was the one who's snores I could hear but now that I was out of the room I could hear Jasmine's snores as well. I carefully crept down the stairs and looked at Jasmine, begging her to wake up with my eyes. I never got close to Sara but now that I am I noticed that she looked quite scary. She had a mouth full of sharp fangs and a yellow scar below her eye. She also had spiky looking black hair. I went past them and looked out the window that was right next to the front door. The house did look nice. I'll give them that. 

Outside was covered in flakes. A small wooden building was in the distance but since I was far away I couldn't make out any details. I also saw the footsteps of someone wearing heavy boots in the flakes. At first I thought it was Mara and for a second I was filled with something of joy but then I remembered that West also wore spiked heavy boots like Mara's and so did Quest, though his weren't spiked. After a while of looking outside I decided to get back to the room. I didn't want to get caught snooping around. For a split second I thought that Sara would be behind me but nope, she was still asleep. I couldn't help but notice that her snores sounded somewhat like growling. Above the fireplace was a digital clock with red numbers. I looked at it. The time was in Eastern Time. It was 2:30. I noticed that below it was a sticky note. It read. 

Dear sister Sara,

Remember to wake up at 2:50. You wanted it, not me.

Love Lora.

I let out a silent curse. In twenty minutes or so maybe even less Sara will wake up. I decided to wait until that happens. I quietly snuck back upstairs and into the room I woke up in. Tomorrow awaits I guess.

....

The sound of an alarm woke me up. I groggily sat up and rubbed my eyes. I saw the shape of Sara reaching up and turning off what seemed to be a digital clock which I failed to notice before.

** _"Your a light sleepier."_ **

Sara noted, not looking at me but fiddling around with the clock.

"Sorry about that." I apologized, sorry for waking up with her alarm clock. Sara gave me a sideways glance.

_ **"Sorry for what? It was the clock that woke you up. It is my fault that your awake, not yours."** _

I blinked slowly. That didn't make sense.

"That is not what my dad says."

By now my vision has cleared up and I can clearly see the surprised look on Sara's face.

** _"Why would your dad say that?"_ **

"Because he does. He is very busy and doesn't need us waking up at the time he wakes up."

Sara shook her head and let out a sigh.

** _"Just like Mara...hmm."_ **

"How do you know Mara?" I asked, excited. Sara seemed to jump a little at my sudden energetic mood swing and finally put the clock back where it was.

** _"She was the first human up here so me and West as well as Kel were in charge of the sentries. Well Kel wasn't but she was helping us out anyways."_ **

Sara let out a sigh and seemed to touch something in her jacket pocket which made her sniffle.

_ **"Mara is strange. She liked us even if we didn't. Eventually her kindness got to us and when she changed with West we changed too. Though in a way I changed with West. It doesn't take a moron to see that Mara was a little screwed up in the head. Her sister, by her stories, wasn't. You get what that realization was, right? You do know what West and I realized as well as Mara that the other monsters didn't?"** _

I shook my head.

_ **"If a child thought of us as monsters and attacked us...which we are monsters but you get what I am saying, then what will the rest of humanity do? Especially with your corrupt and broken government."** _

That got me. I started thinking really hard. What would happen if a bunch of monsters come down to Earth. What would the public do? What would my dad do?

"I never thought about it before." I told Sara honestly. For some reason Sara seemed to be sad at my response. Then she quickly turned away from me. 

** _"Exactly. What would happen...heh."_ **

Sara suddenly stretched out and yawned then opened the front door. She stopped and looked at the window by the front door for a second before shaking her head.

_ **"Were you awake when I was asleep?"** _

"No. I only woke up when the alarm went off. Is something wrong?"

Sara let out a chuckle.

** _"Your brother Danny is here. I think he is in the guest room that has their door closed fully. Lora will be awake soon. If she has woken up already then she will be back soon to fetch you guys for Section 3. I will be back."_ **

Then she was gone. I looked up at the guest room with the door shut. It was the third door up there. I walked up the stairs and then when I was at the door knocked. After a bit a sleepy Danny opened it up.

"Danny?" I asked, getting excited again.

"Jasmine! Wait...Jasmine no-"

I cut him off by tackling him onto the floor, hugging him.

"I missed you!" I exclaimed. Danny pushed me off and stood up.

"Yeah I figured. So how did they treat you?"

I cocked my head in confusion.

"Sara and Lora?" Danny clarified.

"Oh. Lora left to go get you and Sara and I fell asleep on the couch together."

Danny sighed in relief.

"That's good. Do you know what happened to you? I just remember seeing you pass out then so did I."

I shook my head.

"Pass out from what?" I asked. Danny shrugged.

"You just went out cold. It was so sudden too."

I tried to remember what happened but no luck.

"I don't know." 

Danny sighed and patted my shoulder.

"Well I met Magma Dog. He turned out to be a real on edge guy. I think he will be a problem later on but for now he isn't bothering us."

"Oh...who is he?" I asked.

"The dog that threw his spear at us to announce his presence. The red and orange dog that we saw walking up to us before we passed out."

"I don't remember that." I said, trying real hard to remember it. Danny was about to say something but then shook his head.

"We can fix that later. Right now do you know where to go if we leave this place?"

I shook my head. 

"I don't know this place remember? I was brought here by Lora and Sara after Magma Dog dumped me next to them."

Danny snapped his fingers suddenly.

"I got it. Quest said that there were going to be different sectors of this place that we have to go through to get to town. I bet you they have a map somewhere. If we find it we are golden."

"Sara said to stay here though." 

"Are we really going to stay here?" Danny asked, annoyed at my question.

"No as in stay stay here. I wanted to talk about it with you first."

Danny looked somewhat taken back.

"She did? Oh...no. We need to get back to Earth. We kinda don't belong here. The weather is dangerous and we don't know magic."

"How do we know that the other places is better? It will only get more challenging after we leave. The monsters won't be as nice. I just have a feeling."

Danny just let out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll think about it. Right now we can just catch up while we wait for Lora or Sara since we really don't know what is out there."


	16. Section 3!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back onto the puzzles and traps...only this time with Sara and Lora. They also run into Lesser Dog.

It didn't occur to me that we were back to the puzzles and traps when they said that we were going to Section 3. Now here we were, in front of us a square box with sharp spikes on the side of it and dark blue flakes inside that square ahead of us. Lora and Sara were on the other side. Lora was holding her red bone and Sara was picking at her fingernails.

"So here we go. You see ahead of you is a really hard to make trap so don't you dare mess it up."

"Alright. Got it." Danny said, taking a step back at the sudden harsh tone in Lora's voice. Lora let out a sigh then closed her eyes and smiled, not showing her white teeth.

"Thank you."

Sara looked up and looked around before putting her hands into her jacket pockets.

"The flake that is in front of you is a special kind of flake that is found at the entrance and at the end of the Everflowing River...or is it the Everflowing Waterfall? How did I forget so easily? It does not matter though. You see if you don't find the rocks that are hidden underneath the somewhat sky blue colored flakes you will sink like quicksand. Then they will launch you out into the air and you will fall down onto the many big piles of normal flakes around here. We tested it many times so while it may hurt it is not lethal."

"Alright! Thank you for the instructions." I tell Lora cheerfully. She nodded then seemed to think of what she just did. 

"That's a first." She said to herself. 

"Anyways, without a further ado...You May Begin!"

I took a couple of steps into the light blue flakes. Even though I was wearing shoes I felt them. They felt cold and squishy, like goo. I gritted my teeth and took another step. This time I started sinking. I quickly withdrew my foot but because of that I fell backwards. Danny caught me just in time though. After a quick thank you I took a step to the left. My foot started sinking their too. I took it out carefully and put it to the right. This time I didn't sink. Like with the electrical maze the progress was hard and tedious but with a whole lot of determination and the fear of getting stuck or even sinking in I kept on going. Danny followed close behind me. Sara and Lora watched our progress with unreadable expressions. The only emotions that I could see in them was boredom and something of excitement. 

When we were halfway there a white dog wearing silver knights armor came by. It gave us a quizzical look before talking with Sara. Sara nodded and the dog walked away. That was even more proof that my theory from before is not true. I quickly focused back onto the trap but couldn't help but look up again to see if the dog was still there. Danny, trying to catch up and used to my somewhat fast pace, knocked into me. Because I did some gymnastics and stuff before I caught by balance and didn't go forward. Unfortunately for Danny he wasn't. He fell back into the light blue flakes and promptly got suck in. I didn't even have time to say anything before he was shot back out at high speed into the air. With a yell he fell back down onto the asteroid where he landed right on one of the big piles of white flakes. I couldn't help but giggle at this. He was covered head to toe in those flakes. He spat out some out of his mouth and then got up and shook himself off.

"Warn me next time sis." He growled, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Alright. Sorry." I knew I didn't sound serious at all. I was giggling all this time. I couldn't help it. It was funny! What do you expect me to do?

** _"I am guessing that you forgot to put in the green orb?"_ **

Me and Danny turned towards Sara and Lora. Lora was looking perplexed about something while Sara is smiling slyly.

"Yeah yeah. I did...will you go put it into the battery?" Lora asked, her eyebrows raised at the trap. Was something else suppose to happen? 

"ACHEM! Humans! It has come to my attention that a green orb which is suppose to make this trap more difficult is not active. There is way to many rocks. What is suppose to happen is that when you fail the puzzle the rocks will reset making it more difficult...but as you can hear nothing of that sort happened."

**_"Well I can always check." _**Sara told Lora, giving her a sideways glance which spoke all to well of mischief. Lora gave her a disapproving look before sighing and closing her eyes.

"Fine, here." Lora tossed Sara a green orb which looks like the blue one from...from where again? I don't remember.

"Where is that from?" I whispered to Danny. 

"It looks like the blue orb from the electric maze that we did earlier with Quest and West, though I think it is a different one." 

I nodded and tuned back in to Sara's and Lora's conversation.

"There is no way you can screw this one up. You should know what to do...right?"

Sara nodded. Lora shook her head and let out a sigh.

"I feel like I am going to regret this." She muttered to herself. 

**_"Come on sis, don't ya trust me?"_** Sara asked, shrugging, trying her best to look innocent. For some reason she did. Lora didn't respond. Then Sara took off and went through the trap, her heavy boots making footprints of exactly where to go. 

_**"Yep! It didn't change." **_Sara confirmed to a annoyed Lora. Sara got to the end, patted me on the head, snickered at Danny, then threw the green orb into a bush. The green orb went through the bush like it wasn't there. That was strange. Then I heard a click. Sara gave a thumbs up to Lora.

"Good. Now sta-"

I am going to assume she was saying stay there so she didn't give the answer away but Sara was already halfway across the trap, walking in a different pattern. I was studying hard at where she was walking since her footprints from before didn't really go away so it looked somewhat confusing. Finally Sara was back at the other side. Lora gave her a look and Sara just shrugged.

"Should have known." She muttered to herself. Sara looked away from Lora, smiling innocently, a mischief look on her face.

** _"I don't know what your talking about."_ **

"You gave the answer to the trap away."

** _"Was it me though? How can you tell for sure?"_ **

Lora let out an aggravated sigh and said nothing else on the manner.

"You may continue on." She snapped.

Danny went first and he quickly crossed the trap. I went second and I also passed. Lora was about to say something when I crossed but then stopped and without saying anything else spun around and walked away. Sara shrugged at us then followed her sister.

"Well at least we know that Sara might help us every now and then." Danny said. 

"Even without her help the trap wasn't that bad." I pointed out, gleefully. Danny let out a long sigh.

"You didn't fall in so you don't get to say that."

I giggled again.

"Yeah, I know."


	17. Showdown with the Finders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While thinking of another hard trap or puzzle to make and one that can't be screwed up, Lora sends some of the Finders after the humans. Their orders? Kill them but preferably capture them.

"Humans!"

Oh great. Here we go again. Lora was ahead of us, her right hand on her hip with her left one carrying that massive red bone that rested on her shoulder.

"It has come to my attention that you seen that tic-tac toe puzzle since you solved it fairly quick. Since that was suppose to stop you for a while I don't have any puzzles or traps ready at the moment. I am going to have to enable them and choose the ones that I like to face you. In the meanwhile I told a batch of warriors from the Finders where you were."

Wait a second. The Finders. Where did I hear that before. I think Magma Dog was talking about them. Either way I knew they were bad news. Lora said Warriors which mean fighters. That means enemies.

"Their orders are to capture you but they can kill you if you put up too much of a fight so good luck and toodles."

Toodles? Who says toodles anymore? No one does. Lora spun around and walked off, a grim smile on her face as she did so.

"Do you think we are in trouble?" Jasmine asked. I face palmed.

"Yes. They are sending in warriors Jass. Fighters in other words. They are coming to get us."

"Oh. That's what she meant by warriors."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Don't you ever pay attention in school?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Uh...maybe?"

"Yep. Knew it." 

Jasmine pouted behind me but I ignored her. It was starting to snow again. Is that what you call it when this happens? I don't know. After a bit of walking some fog started picking up. Well it was more like mist. Suddenly I saw three big shapes coming towards us. They seemed to see us too as they ran forward. Soon we could see each other. I was going to assume that these monsters were the finders. One of them was a bunny with a spear. The other one I couldn't tell since they all wore knights armor with the helmets on. (The only reason I could tell the bunny was a bunny was because of the grey ears sticking out of the helmet). This one had yellow eyes and carried a bow and arrow with no quiver on its back and a broadsword. The other one was a monster with bull horns and blue eyes. That one carried a war hammer in its left hand

**"Humans. Under Lora's command we will capture you. If you try anything we can kill you. Prepare yourselves."**

Well that rabbit was a woman. Her voice sounded muffled yet strict. The three guards got into fighting stance and Jasmine took a step back.

"No way we can talk this out?" Jasmine asked. The yellow eyed one shook his head.

**"Not a chance."**

He sounded like a knight in those movies, his voice loud and announcing. Just like with Mara a black filter went over my vision and the guards seemed to be in my focus. I guess let the fight begin.

....

"The Finders 1, 2, and 3 stand in your way. They seem ready, their eyes steady. They seem to expect you to fight back judging from their stances. Maybe you can talk them into thinking that your not a threat. Might be hard since they seem loyal."

Finder 1 

Att: 30

Def: 100

HP: 980

This bull monster seems ready for a fight,

but doesn't seem like it wants to.

Finder 2

Att: 75

Def: 75

HP: 890

This one seems to be the officer of this 

unit. She doesn't seem ready though...

Finder 3

Att: 55

Def: 80

HP: 1000

This one seems loyal to the cause but

seems to expect you to be different?

Get him to change his mind.

I thanked the voice inside my head. I guessed correctly that it was going to speak again. I decided which one to go after first. The leader didn't seem like she would listen. Maybe if I take away her soldiers she would listen. I thought briefly about Mara and how she glitched out when I talked to her. What if all monsters were like that? I shook my head, trying to get those thoughts out of my head. I have to think that they aren't. I decided on talking to the knight first or Finder number three. 

"Do we look like a threat? I think we are not your problem. If we were really a threat wouldn't Lora call more of you in?"

The knight seemed to nod his head in agreement but then quickly stopped doing it. I assume now that it was Danny's turn.

"Try and convince the knight that we aren't a threat." I whispered to Danny.

"How do you know that will work?" He asked.

"Just do it."

Danny sighed and took in a deep breath.

"We don't even have weapons anymore. We gave them to Mara. We can't even fight back."

**"We all know humans are weapons."** Finder number two spat out. 

**"Yeah." **Finder number three agreed, though he looked uncertain. We were getting to him. Then I realized with a jolt that it was their turn to attack. Finder one took a deep breath then raised its war hammer to the sky. Five big shadows soon appeared in the air. Three of them went over me while the other two went over Danny. I looked up. Big boulders were floating above our heads. Suddenly I realized that the other two monsters could also attack. It never said they have to take turns attacking. I looked down to see that my suspicions were confirmed. Finder number two was charging at me with her spear while the knight was attacking Danny with his broadsword.

"Danny!" I cried, dodging the spear. Danny saw the knight and did his best to dodge the swing but he didn't see the attack coming in time and the attack cut his left hand open. I dodged the spear attack by grabbing the sharp point and throwing it away from me. The cut hurt but I could handle the pain. Then the boulders came. One of them nearly hit Danny but he managed to avoid getting a serious cut, only getting out by a tiny cut. I was not so lucky. I avoided the first boulder but one of them hit me in the stomach and the last one came at my face. I let out a surprised yell when it stopped, and then like a baseball bat, swung at me and hit me in the face. My vision instantly went black and I swear I could see stars a lot closer than before. The rock that was pinning me on my back crumbled away into nothing but dust. I let out a groan and got up, my head pounding. Danny rushed over to my side and helped me up.

**"They don't seem like much of a threat Officer Della." **

**"I know, I know. They are just kids..."**

**"But it was also just a kid that attacked and nearly killed West."**

I completely forgot that it was a kid who nearly killed West. Mara must have been normal back then so of course so was her sister. The Finders got back into their fighting stance and waited for us to make a move. 

"I am going to assume that Mara's sister had a knife or something? We don't have anything and more or less we just want to help you monsters out. We tried to befriend Mara but she thought we were going to kill her. At least that's what West said."

The three guards seemed to pause and think about what I said for a minute.

**"You can still get a knife around here." **The knight pointed out, sounding very unsure of himself. The three guards raised their weapons again. I guess they skipped Danny's turn. The bull monster started to swing his hammer around faster and faster until it threw it at us. It split off into many shorter versions of its white war hammer. The officer also summoned weapons though hers were spears. The Knight switched out to his bow and arrow and suddenly five arrows appeared in the bow. He pulled back and aimed at us then at the sky. I swallowed nervously and got ready to dodge. The attack was swift and deadly. A spear stabbed Danny in his left shoulder and one of the war hammers found me and hit me up into the air where one of the arrows came down and pinned me to the ground through my leg. I didn't yell or scream. The arrows and the other fake weapons or magical weapons disappeared and I was able to get up again. I was wobbling and I could barely stand.

"If we are a threat then just kill me." I told them. Some tears were in my eyes and rolling down my cheek. The guards dropped their weapons down to their side, their eyes unreadable. Danny gave me a shocked look.

"Y-you only need one more soul or essence right? Then kill me and leave Danny alone."

The Finders seemed to take a couple of steps back, a guilty look in their eyes. They then huddled together and started whispering to each other. I could still hear what they were saying though.

**"What should we do Della?"**

**"I d-don't know. I expected humans to be a threat. It was normally Kel who kills them not us."**

**"And they are just kids too. They are way younger than Alicia by the looks of it."**

**"Your right. Molly, what do you think?"**

**"I don't know. I expected a fight and they aren't even trying to fight back. This feels wrong. Don't get me wrong I am loyal to the cause but this time it seems wrong. I say let the others kill them."**

Well the bull monster was a teenage sounding girl monster. She also seems to be on our side. Danny was doing his best to tend to my wounds, wrapping some rags that we kept onto by accident around my multiple cuts and stabs. I also think that I might have a dislocated nose. Danny gave me a look asking for my approval for it. I nodded and he quickly fixed it. I let out a stifled yelp which made the guards turn around and look at us, pity in their eyes. They then went back to talking.

**"What do we tell Lorca?"**

**"The humans were too strong? That will make her want to face them."**

**"Why don't we just say the humans were too evasive and we lost track of them. Then before Lora or Sara could check it out we could make fake tracks to make it look like a chase happened."**

**"That might actually work Molly. By my sword that is a great idea!"**

**"So it's settled then? Good. Now let us make haste before anyone comes over."**

The three Finders started walking towards the path that they came from. Before they were out of sight Molly stopped, turned back around and walked over to us. I let out a whimper. I was somewhat scared. Molly reached into her back pocket and for a second I thought she was pulling out another weapon. Danny did too and tensed up.

**"Here." **Molly said, throwing us a first aid kit and a map before turning and walking away.

**"If you want to live stay away from Sara's canine unit."**

Then she was gone. Just like that gone into the foggy pine forest.


	18. Cut the flower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasmine and Danny meet Lora and Sara again and this time Quest and West come along too. As it turns out Jasmine and Danny will have to split up. Also, remember Jasmine's flower? That comes back to play a part here.

Of course we met Lora and Sara again. They seem to be everywhere. I saw them earlier before sometime after the showdown with the Finders. They were mainly hidden by the fog but I recognized Lora's bone and Sara's piercing glowing cat like eyes from anywhere. They seemed to be arguing about something before they abruptly cut off and just walked away. I assumed they noticed us. Now they were here again, waiting for us. The fog was gone now and I could clearly see them in the clearing up ahead. 

"Humans! It has come to me that I do not really know your names and if I do I have forgotten them. Can you tell me them please?"

Well that wasn't what I thought she was going to say but alright then.

"I'm Danny and my sister's name is Jasmine." I told Lora. Lora nodded.

"My name is Lorci to you." Lora quickly snapped. Sara rolled her eyes but said nothing. So she wants us to say her name Lorci instead of Lora. Luckily none of us said her name in front of her cause she seems to want us to call her that.

"Now the reason we are here is because we need to pickup the pace a little. We only need one soul so instead of killing one of you we are splitting you up."

"What?" Jasmine asked, confused. Lora closed her eyes and smiled.

"Let me explain. Since there are two of you one of you will be going with us to our traps and puzzles for a while and the other one will go to West and Quest to do the same."

As I took in what she said Lora opened her eyes and looked annoyed at something.

"Speaking of which West is late again." She muttered.

"Lazy assho-"

West suddenly stepped out behind us. Lora looked up at him, slightly surprised while Sara raised her eyebrow. Jasmine let out a yelp and West gave her a weird look. I never really got up close to him but now that I was I could see just how tall he was. He was extremely tall! He must be eleven feet tall or something! Well maybe not but he was bigger than the world's tallest human by more than a good margin. West turned back to Lora and narrowed his eyes.

_"Language Lora. I thought we were passed you calling me an asshole."_

Lora looked worried for a couple of seconds before sighing and placing her bone down on the ground and leaning on it glared back at West.

"Then stop being so late."

West looked at her a little while longer, a slightly dangerous but more annoyed look on his face and of course his smile still on. Then he closed his eyes and chuckled.

_"Hah. Maybe."_

Lora raised her right eyebrow at him before sighing. They stayed silent for a while and I wondered what they were waiting for. I should have known the answer though. Jasmine perked up excitedly and soon enough I heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards us. Enter Quest. He looked tired and in his right hand was a double-bladed bone sword that was red, red, and had yellow stripes on the handle. West walked up to him and stayed by his side as he stood next to Lora and Sara. He looked at everyone then threw his weapon into the ground where it stabbed into the rock below and stuck in it. Damn he must be strong since it looked like he just flicked his wrist and threw his weapon in.

**"I have arrived. NOW WE CAN GET TO TALKING."**

Lora nodded and then took in a deep breath.

"So, who wants to go with who?"

I was about to speak before Jasmine could, knowing who she was going to pick, but it was too late.

"I'll go with you and West!" Jasmine almost yelled out loud. Everyone did a double-take at this and Quest looked at Lora for an explanation. Lora just shook her head and then pointed at Jasmine and then at Quest. Quest looked surprised at this but shook his head. I guess we aren't the only one who has secret code. Though it mainly looks like they are asking who did this.

_"Say Jasmine, did you always have that pink flower on your head? It looks real."_

....

Pink flower? Oh! I remember Sara asking about it before and I guess I just forgot to check but now West was saying it. I touched the spot on my head that West was pointing to and sure enough I felt a flower. It felt numb for some reason. Danny was looking at it too.

"How did I not notice that before?" He asked himself. West was now looking back and fourth at me and Danny.

_"Y-you had no idea? I know that it wasn't there last time we saw her." _

That last one seemed to be at himself but for some reason I felt like he wasn't talking to himself.

"I remember Sara telling me about it but I have no idea how it got there." I admitted. Lora looked at Sara and Sara gave her a you expect me to know look.

_ **"Maybe Magma put it on her or another monster. But that doesn't make much sense since he hates humans."** _

West looked at the ground suddenly before grinning even wider and threw me a pair of scissors.

_"Best to cut it before it dies by our "special" snow bud."_

West started snickering and Quest gritted his teeth and gave him a long annoyed look, his pupils turning black. A thin wispy black trail of smoke suddenly went out of the corner of the right side of his mouth. None of the other monsters seemed bothered by this and Quest didn't seem to care. Danny picked up the metal scissors and walked over to me. I let out a protest but stopped when I realized what West was talking about. Sara said that the flower would die because of the snow that is out here and what happens if it dies like that on top of my head? It most likely will be bad. I nodded and closed my eyes at the thought of Danny cutting the perfectly cute looking pink flower that is on top of my head. I wonder if Quest won't like me as much now with it gone? Plus who is this West guy?

I felt Danny move my hair aside and place the scissors right next to the flower. I felt a prickle of danger and unease run through my body, coming from the...the flower? Before I could decide what it meant Danny cut the stem. My entire head went numb and then my body. I locked up and I felt a pressure coming from my heart. Blood went out of my mouth and I fell onto the white ground. Danny let out a yell and West started laughing. Even Sara was laughing up a storm. Quest was looking at me with a look of what the hell and Lora's mouth was wide open in shock, showing her sharp white teeth.

"...Wha-?" Went out of Lora's mouth as my vision faded to black. Like before this blackness filled me with fear. It just wasn't normal. I don't know how to make it out. Whatever it was though I wanted out. I wanted to be out of it. I hope I can get out of it...

....

_"Heh heh heh heh."_

I woke up and like with Mara, standing where I died. West had his eyes closed and was chuckling at something. Danny was at my side and the scissor was on the ground.

**"IS SOMETHING FUNNY BROTHER? IF SO CAN YOU SHARE? UNLESS IT IS A PUN BECAUSE YOU KNOW I FIND THOSE ANNOYING."**

My head was throbbing and I knew for a fact that blood was coming out of my mouth. Sara noticed this and quickly tapped West on the shoulder. West opened his eye and saw this too. Then Quest noticed as well as Lora.

**"UH, HUMAN...ARE YOU OKAY?"**

I blushed a little. Quest sounded worried. Danny finally looked and saw what everyone else was seeing.

"Jasmine! Are you okay? Where are you hurt? Is it that flower?"

_ **"Heh. Yeah, it is probably the flower."** _

The flower...

I remember what happened. Somehow that flower getting cut off killed me. Danny picked up the scissor and approached me.

"Stand still." He said. I shrieked and smacked the scissor out of Danny's hand. No way am I going to risk seeing if I was right about the flower. I don't want to go back to the darkness. Never. West cocked his head and Quest seemed to be perplexed at something.

** _"Gee kid. You sure want that flower that probably some weird traitorous monster put on your head."_ **

**"WELL I GUESS WE BETTER GET GOING. I WILL BRING YOU TO AN OUTPOST WHERE ME AND WEST CAN HELP YOU AND SOLVE WHAT IS MAKING YOU BLEED."**

Danny looked at me, distraught, but Quest walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. My head was still ringing and I couldn't hear what he was saying but Danny nodded. After giving me one last worried look he walked over to Lora and Sara. They started walking away.

_"Well kid, I guess you really like flowers huh? N-not my choice to keep it so you remember that when you get sick."_

**"WEST!"**

West just shrugged.

_"Just saying you should have gotten rid of it...because"_ West's left eye disappeared and his right one changed into a yellow ring around a blue pupil, _"it won't be my fault if you never see Danny again."_

West started chuckling and then he turned around. 

_"See you up ahead!" _He called out before walking off.

Quest let out a sigh before smiling.

**"He's having fun."** He said to himself before picking me up and placing me on his shoulders.

**"Hope you don't mind but we have to get going. Hold on Tight!"**

I did and Quest crouched down, getting ready to run.

**"THREE, TWO, ONE, NARR!"**


	19. Guess who is out and about?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Jasmine solves the last puzzle she hears a familiar song playing...

Quest dropped me off at the first puzzle. It was another x and o one that I saw with Lora and Sara. This one though the rocks changed. I must admit it was hard at first but soon the rock patterns became easy to remember and predict. I knew when they would move and soon I solved the puzzle.

**"That...THAT WAS HONESTLY IMPRESSIVE. BECAUSE OF YOUR PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT ANOTHER PUZZLE LIKE THIS YOU HAVE IMPROVED GREATLY. YOU ARE GOING TO MY EXPATIATION OF WHAT A HUMAN IS SUPPOSE TO BE LIKE. THEN AGAIN YOU ARE A CHILD SO I GUE-"**

I was listening in on Quest's praise when I suddenly heard the familiar sound of humming. I recognized the tune and then the voice. It was Mara. West perked up too and seemed to be facing the direction of the humming, a unreadable look on his face. 

_"Mara is out. Keep the human away from her. No need to make a scene even if she is good with promises."_

Quest nodded and after straining his ears, seemed to hear Mara too.

**"Achem. HUMAN. IF YOU WILL PLEASE FOLLOW ME. WE GET YOU KNOW MARA BUT A PROMISE IS A PROMISE AND A DEAL IS A DEAL SO SHE CANNOT HELP YOU."**

Quest spun around, his scarf cape in the air making him look cool as usual, and then he walked down the path. I looked where West was and saw that he was gone, no trace to where he went to. That was weird and a little bit creepy. I thought of Mara, how she threw us out of the Human Ruins. How will she react to me after she thought we were going to kill her when we were talking to her? I wanted to be her friend but her expression...I still remember her burning eyes. Chances are she might try to kill me.

Maybe that is why West told us to go? Wait, how does West know Mara? I tried to rack my memory but nothing came up. Suddenly I felt a nudge from behind. I spun around and for a second I saw two piercing yellow golden eyes looking at me, the shape of them the same as West's pupils. Then they were gone. I was pretty certain that it was a warning to get a move on. I heard Mara's humming getting closer and finally I left to go after Quest. I don't want to risk death again. 

....

I saw out of the corner of my eyes a shadow streak past in the tree lines. I stopped and waited. Soon enough I heard the familiar sound of boots walking up to me. I turned around and there he was, West. He looked maybe slightly better than last time I saw him. His smile seemed to fade for a second as he got closer to me.

_"W-well well well. Look who is out of the Human Ruins."_

I smiled pleasantly. It was good to hear the voice of a friend again. Even if I saw him a couple of days ago it still felt like forever. 

_"Hel-hello again West. It is good to see you."_

West cocked his head to the side.

_"We saw each other a couple of days ago. Five or six to be exact."_

I shrugged.

_"Felt longer."_

West nodded in agreement before sighing and closing his eyes.

_"Have the humans asked about your eye?" _I asked, curious to see how curious they are. West shook his head.

_"I might have been using a fake eyelid." _

I raised my eyebrow.

_"R-really? I thought I knew you."_

West chuckled nervously before he closed his eyes again, this time showing what happened to him as his fake eyelid started dusting away. Ever since the..._attack,_ West's left eyelid was removed. When he closes his eyes his right eyelid goes down while the left one his pupil and his ring just disappears. It is kinda creepy and a reminder of the accident that happened to him. He opened his right eye, winking at me but his other eye still blank.

_"Don't want them to see what really happened?" _I asked, putting my hands on my hips. West let out a small chuckle.

_"We both know that I am hiding the full extend of what happened."_

I nodded. That was true. He looks a whole lot worse than most monsters know. He is just hiding it. Does Quest even know? I doubt it. Quest tried his best to figure things out but West, Sara, and even me, Mara, are always two steps ahead of him, keeping our secrets hidden. It is better this way. Besides, we don't know much ourselves. Why am I even thinking about this again? 

_"S-so. Mara...do you really hate them that much? Do you really distrust them to that point?"_

_"W-who?" _I already know who he was talking about though. Who were the last people that I saw?

_"The humans. They seemed nice enough. The girl Jasmine is just like you when you first got here, maybe a little more messed up by her "love" eyes at my brother Quest but still. Did ya really t-think they were going to kill you?"_

I let out a shaky sigh. I did.

_"Wow. A-and I thought I knew you."_

A distant crow call distracted West from asking anymore questions. He seemed a little perplexed at first but then he looked back at me.

_"Soooo, how is the capturing going?"_

West started chuckling to himself.

_"I say it is only a matter of time. I don't think the girl realizes yet but Quest ain't messing around. If she fails..."_

West's eyes disappeared and his smile widened.

** _"it is all over_ ** _ **then."**_

_"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?"_

West's eyes returned and he nodded thoughtfully.

_"Well it was nice to see you again but unfortunately duty calls."_

I made a tsk noise. Unfortunate.

_"Uh, before I go, what are you doing out here? Visiting or shopping?"_

I scratched the back of my head nervously,starting to sweat.

_"I just felt the urge to come out here and since I don't have anything else to do I decided to go for it. Besides, if you capture and kill the humans I won't really need to hide anymore now do I?"_

West nodded slowly, seeming to be pondering something.

_"Well catch ya later then! Byo."_

_"B-bye!" _I called out after him. He soon was gone, most likely going towards Quest. After thinking of where to go next I got it. I will go to the lab. What can go wrong there?


	20. The flakes keep on coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny is going through with Sara and Lora when suddenly Sara gets a call and has to go. That leaves Danny and Lora alone and Lora decides to break the time while Danny is solving a hard puzzle with a story.

It must have been ten minutes of walking before we reached a puzzle. Lora ran up ahead and Sara stopped walking. Lora went past the square ahead of me. I looked back at Sara and saw her picking her teeth. For a second I thought she would be gone like West is when I aren't looking at him but nope. 

"Human! It is time for another puzzle. This one is called the flaky square. In order for you to pass this you must correctly guess what lies in the pile of flakes. This is a test to see how fast you are since the flake piles are grey and searching in one for two long will result in scars."

Well wasn't that great. I might scar my hand or even worse, lose it. This is going to be fun.

"Are you ready for the fun to begin human? I hope not because the amount of fun that your going to be getting is quite low I think. Unless you like pain like that Atlas kid."

"Who?" I asked. Lora just shrugged.

"Someone Barracuda talks about."

"Who is Barracuda?" I asked. Sara chuckled behind me and Lora just crossed her eyes and sighed.

"Once you get to town I will give you the book on our rich history."

Well that answered none of my questions. 

"Now, without a further adieu...let the puzzle Begin!"

I stopped thinking about the questions that I had and focused on the puzzle. There were about twelve piles of grey flakes.

"What am I looking for again?" I asked. 

"There are eight red levers in the piles. It doesn't take much to move activate them so don't worry about that. You must get all eight of the switches without failing four times. Once that happens I will heal your hand and then we may continue. Understand?"

Well at least Lora seems to be patient with this kind of stuff.

I nodded and Lora, with a mix between a sigh and a grunt, said good. Now it was time to figure out what do to. I walked over to one and quickly dipped my hand in it. It was close to the ground so I had to get on my knees in order for me to reach in. I had a doubt in my mind that there was no way these piles could hide a lever since they were so small but as it turns out there were a hole underneath it. There I felt a lever. I switched it and then quickly got my hand out of there. Then a thought hit me.

"What way do I have to turn it?" I asked.

"Anyway works. This isn't made by Sara." Lora added, casting Sara a look. Sara looked taken back and shrugged at Lora and Lora just shook her head. Sara then mumbled something in a strange langue that sounded somewhat like a bunch of curses but I couldn't tell for sure.

I turned my attention back to the puzzle and went over to another pile. I reached down and to my surprise it was deeper than the last one. I felt around and soon I started to panic. What if there was no lever in this one? Then again what if it was hidden? I started to feel a burning sensation on my hand and I quickly pulled it out. I looked at it and noticed that my hand was looking a little raw in some places but other than that it was okay. I looked up and noticed that right next to Lora was a floating red bone. It was way shorter than the one that Lora carries and is leaning on and Lora wasn't even paying it any attention. I decided that it was a counter that meant one fail. That was a relief since it meant that I was right about the pile having nothing in it. I went to the next one and the next one. Two more levers down. Suddenly I heard Sara give a hello. Curious I looked back at Sara who was leaning on a pine tree on a raspberry colored IPhone.

** _"Yeah this is Sara. Who else do ya think it would be. Huh buster? Speak up."_ **

Never thought I would ever hear someone call someone else buster, especially a girl.

** _"You been having trouble with names lately...huh. Well what can I do for ya?"_ **

Sara looked somewhat worried. I wonder what that is about.

** _"That is a strange case. Let me see what I can find. I am coming over there soon. Yeah, yeah the human can wait. This might take a while and I am pretty sure the Finders can keep him busy. Yeah, no way can he kill them. He is a kid. Yeah...I feel the same way too...but that doesn't change the fact that he is human. Well gotta go. I am coming over there once I get my books and stuff."_ **

Sara said goodbye before hanging up and sighing.

_ **"Gotta go sis, duty calls."** _

"Understood. Tell me if they are alright or not. Don't sugarcoat it either!"

**_"Yeah yeah." _**Sara said, rolling her eyes.

** _"Well see ya kid." _ **

Then Sara turned around and left. I looked at Lora who watched her go.

"She is also a doctor." Lora explained. That was something that I did not expect Sara to ever do. I guess it does make sense though. Then again, if Sara couldn't treat her own scar than is she really good? Then again I don't know monster things...and yet Molly threw us a med-kit that worked perfectly. Maybe it was something else? It doesn't matter. What matters now is that I need to solve this puzzle.

...

"Do you want to hear a story?"

I perked up at Lora's sudden question. She was standing there just watching me for what now must be thirty minutes. Now there was a sad look in her eyes. There was another emotion too but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Um, sure." It would be a way to pass the time. I was almost done. Two wrong and only three left. As it turns out there was sixteen piles of grey flakes in the area and there were two levers. One of them had a rubber top which was the one I pull and the non metal ones. Lora said that if I press the metal ones it doesn't count towards my failure chart. There were now two small red bones in the air besides Lora. 

Lora let out a long sigh and then closed her eyes.

"Do you know why this puzzle is called the Flaky Square? It is a rather interesting topic. You see long ago when the flakes first started we all thought it was harmless. That wasn't until Sara noticed that all plant life except for the dark pine wood trees are dying. We soon realized that it was deadly so we tested it to see how much would kill us. Me and Sara as well as Nira were the test subjects. Testing on Nira stopped when they realized its harm towards humans and soon afterward it stopped for us. Me and my sister came home to the entire town covered in flakes."

My brain quickly registered that Lora said human when talking about someone named Nira. I was going to ask her about it when Lora went on.

"You see the flakes were something that wasn't natural and the monsters in the Lab didn't even get the chance to tell the public when the storm hit. Monsters fearing for their lives hid inside. Unfortunately for them gangs took advantage of that. Soon it was mass chaos. That is when the Loyal Knights came in but...they could do nothing. Some monsters got the bright idea to hide underneath the black piles of flakes."

Aha! Another one. I pulled it. That is when I had a funny feeling of what Lora was talking about.

"You see, the next week when the storm ended and the Royal Guards came in with the rest of the Loyal Knights to check the town out they had to search in the piles."

I got went into one that was fake and then went into another one. A metal lever. My hand was now burning. I quickly went into one and prayed that it wasn't fake. There! I got one. Now there was only two left. There was a third one but I already checked and it was a metal lever one. If I got this wrong I would be back from the start. I looked up at Lora to see if there was another bone and sure enough there was one. Then I noticed Lora's eyes. They were emotionless and blank, her pupils in shaped like a fire and her pupils red and her hair somewhat red. Smoke was coming out of her pupils and out of her eyes, the smoke going above her head. Her bones were also glowing red and they seemed to be glowing. Even the bone on her shoulder was like that. It was also smoking. 

"They looked into grey piles of flakes and pulled out the dead bodies of the monsters that made the mistake of hiding in the large black piles of flakes. That was the end of many monsters. We now know that black flakes are deadly and the normal white ones are safe. That is how the Finders were made. They were made to make sure nothing like that day and night never happened again. After all, it is flaky."

Lora went silent and closed her eyes, a cheerful expression on her face. I quickly chose the right one and then quickly pulled out. No...it felt wrong. I then chose the left one. I went all the way in and felt the rubber lever. I pulled it. I heard something behind Lora click.

"Congrats!" Lora said suddenly, sounding really excited and her bones disappearing. The only one that didn't was the long bone that she always seems to carry.

"You finished the puzzle. Now that the pitfall trap behind me is gone we can pass. Come on to a sentry station where I can heal ya up."

Then Lora spun around, her yellow scarf flying in the wind and then walked away.


	21. The Flaky Outpost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasmine is challenged to sneak her way through a outpost that is a fortress and filled with Finders...and of course she accepts it. This is also where most of the monsters start to curse so yeah.

I saw the shape of Quest up ahead. With him was a small tan dog with large eyes and large ears. The dog looked at me and instantly his tail started wagging. I noticed that his right eye has a nasty looking black scar over it. The dog then quickly spun around three times in a circle before whispering "She is here!" Quest nodded and then waited until I got closer.

**"HUMAN! ME AND MY FRIEND AND WORKER ALERT DOG WANT TO KNOW JUST HOW CAPABLE YOU ARE."**

I guess the dog's name is Alert Dog. A strange name but I am not judging. 

"SO! I heard so much about you! Even though we met before it was only for a brief moment."

I blinked. We met before? When? I didn't remember.

**"YOU SEE JASMINE, ME AND ALERT DOG ARE WORKING ON REACTIVATING AN OLD TRAP. THAT IS WHY YOU MUST GO THROUGH THE FLAKY OUTPOST. YOU MUST SNEAK THROUGH IT. BE WARNED THAT IT IS FULL OF HIGHLY TRAINED WARRIORS THAT ARE THE FINDERS. ARE YOU UP TO THE CHALLENGE OR...are you too chicken?"**

I was admiring the fact that Quest had said my name when I realized what he said. Chicken!? ME? Never!

"I Accept!" I said, ready.

**"Good. THE FINDERS WON'T KILL YOU IF THEY FIND YOU BUT THEY WILL BRING YOU TO A CELL UNTIL I FETCH YOU SO I IMAGINE THAT IT WILL BE QUITE BORING JUST WAITING IN THERE. FOLLOW ME TO THE OUTPOST."**

And off we went. Quest was in the front with me close behind him, somehow keeping up with him despite his long legs, and Alert Dog who was taking up the rear and also somehow keeping up. After a while of walking, we stopped at a large wooden fort. I was studying it when Quest turned towards me.

**"RIGHT NOW THE FINDERS ARE SLEEPING. IN A LITTLE BIT A FEW GUARDS WILL BE SENT UP TO THEIR POST. YOUR JOB IS TO SNEAK THROUGH IT. THIS OUTPOST CAN'T BE BURNED DOWN SO I SAY YOU SHOULDN'T TRY TO. YOU'LL JUST ALERT THE GUARDS. I WILL BE WAITING ON THE OTHER SIDE. GOOD LUCK."**

And just like that Quest and the dog were off. It wasn't until they were out of sight though that I realized that I have no plan. How am I going to sneak through a heavily guarded outpost? It looks more like a fort than an outpost. How am I even suppose to get in? I was pondering that when I heard the sound of someone right behind me. I spun around to a very surprised West. It was only for a moment but when I turned around I swore I saw him pull out a knife, but then he quickly put it away in his coat pocket. He did it so fast too. Was he that nervous and afraid that I might attack him? Seems unlikely...then again, he is the one who is running the campaign against the humans.

"Hey West. Didn't hear you."

I now just remembered that I have no idea who West was just a minute ago. I guess I did meet him. Even though I know him, his appearance was strange. He wears a somewhat dark grey jacket and black shorts with a gold stripe. He seems to be wearing a ocean blue shirt underneath his jacket. His zippers were closed so that is why I could only see a little bit by his neck. He has fur at the end of his coat pockets and he has a massive white fur hood. He has two stripes down each jacket arm that have a yellow triangle which takes up most of the stripe and orange where there isn't the triangle. He also has two green triangles above his jacket pocket. His sneakers have yellow shoelaces and are pitch black. They are also spiked at the bottom. His skin was pure white. He also has black spiky hair. Then there was his face. His right eye had a large yellow oval shaped pupil in an eye socket. His other eye has a smaller yellow oval shaped pupil in an eye socket but it also has a red ring around it. He seems to be sweating yellow sweat and his smile was wide and unsettling. it also mad him look nervous and paranoid...which he most likely is. One of his tooth on the left side of his mouth was gold, the same color that his pupils are and his zippers and is triangles on his sleeves...and his sneakers and shorts. I guess he likes that color. He had large pure black bags under his eyes and he has a large serious looking jagged crack running through his left eye and to his mouth. It looked like his skin was broken. The crack itself was black. He was also very...very, very tall. I never knew how big he was. He was almost as tall as Quest. He was also big too, but I was pretty sure that he was born that way and none of it was fat. He looked just like a giant human. His mouth was actually as big as half of my head and trust me, I have a pretty thick head.

_"O-oh. H-heya Jass. Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to turn around so quickly. I thought I was being pretty stealthy myself. Then again, you are normal sized and I am a giant."_

He even sounded bad. He was stammering and his words seem to be tripping over one another. How is that possible? His last sentence though was somewhat bitter.

"So, you here to watch me?" I asked. Wet closed his eyes for a moment and his smile turned into a frown and then back into a smile. He seemed lost for a moment.

_"Yep. I am also here to get you inside. Y-you see, I think this challenge of Quest's is kinda unfair. I am here not to cheat this one, but to give you advice. You get what I am saying?"_

His grammar was a little off but I did get what he was saying. 

"Yes."

West gave me a thumbs up and I giggled. It felt nice somehow to be praised by him. That is strange because I know nothing about him.

_"Hey, kid. Want to hear a joke."_

I perked up at West's random question.

"Sure." I said, and at the same time West explained, _"While we were walking before you asked what kind of jokes Quest likes and he said that I make the kind of jokes that he likes. Then you asked me if I could tell you a joke. I said I would get back on it. Now I am here, back on it."_

"So please tell away." I say, thinking of the wonderful jokes that Quest must like.

_"Why did Sally fall off the swing set?"_

W-what? I was not expe-"

_"Because she has no arms."_

West let out a chuckle at his joke while I tried to blot out the thought that Quest likes that joke.

_"Knock knock."_

Ooh! A knock knock joke. Perfect! I am good at those.

"Who's there?"

_"Well, it can't be Sally."_

My mind went blank at that. Why? What are these jokes? 

_"T-these jokes are called dark humor."_ West explained. I assume that he saw my expression.

_"These are kinda bad but what can I say, dark humor is like food. Not everyone gets it."_

It took me a four long hard seconds to get that one. That was partly due to West laughing at his joke and the food part. When I did I took a step back. Did Quest really like these jokes? They are messed up and I can't see how anyone can find them funny. West must have noticed my expression again.

_"Oh come on buddy, these are the jokes that Quest likes. Fine. Even though the last one was good i'll tell you another joke. You might be 'blown' away by them though."_

I looked at the toy bomb that West just teleported into his hand. I don't get it. West didn't seem to notice that though since he went on anyway.

_"Making up a whole 'string' of these puns take a lot of skill. It ain't no piece of 'cake'. Some would call this 'humerus' while others would call this an annoyance. I think that these are 'eggcellent' puns though. I really do 'plane' these ahead. Not 'berry' simple you see."_

I looked blankly at the pile of stuff that West teleported here. I still didn't get it. Now West caught my look of confusion.

_"H-hey! Are they that bad?"_

Or he did but took it as something else.

"N-no. I just don't understand it."

Now it was West's turn to stare at me blankly, his smile gone.

_"W-what?" _He got out after a really uncomfortable minute.

"The joke. I do-" 

West cut me off by raising his hand.

_"I know what y-you are saying Jasmine, but still. You don't know what a pun is?"_

West shook his head in disbelief while I tried to remember what a pun is? Did I ever know what it meant?

"No." I replied after a minute of thinking about it.

_"Just follow me into the fort." _West said after looking at me for a while longer, his smile coming up again.

West walked around the side of the outpost, taking care of not being seen by some random search lights and finders. I guess not everyone is asleep. Then again, Quest did say that they were elite. The finders were elite. I looked at West. Who was he? Was he elite? He seemed to just be a paranoid monster. Give him credit though, he is very stealthy. He is expertly staying out of sight while I follow behind him, doing my best to follow exactly where he goes and timing the searchlights. He was also walking causally. Maybe he is elite? 

....

West finally stopped in front of a strange metal thing. It looked like a bunch of metal arrows on the wall. West seemed to study it for a moment before touching the arrows in a sequence. I guess it is some kind of keypad. It opened up the wood around it like a door. On the other side were a couple of cabins and three Finders. I recognized one of them from somewhere, the bull one. I can't remember where though. The other two were wolf like monsters with purple fur and two lances. Actually, the one on the left had black fur and red eyes while the purple furred one has orange eyes. The bull monster pulled out a battle hammer out of its back. I thought about going behind the wall for a second but I then realized it was too late. They must have seen me already. But, before I could decide truly on what to do, they put their weapons away and did some kind of salute, which is them raising their right hand to their head above their eyes then swiftly crossing their arms together and then making a x with their arms before returning to their sides. West did the same. 

_"I see that the sentries are up and doing work."_

**"Yes sir."**

West narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

_"Just call me West. I am not Quest or Magma who love being called that. It is sir this and sir that with them. What is Quest's excuse for it? I know Magma's."_

The guards shrugged and West let out a sigh.  
_ “Hey! Wanna hear a joke?” _

The Finders nodded their heads at West’s sudden question.

_ “Why did Katie fall off the swing set? Because she had no arms to begin with.” _

The Finders let out a chuckle while I nearly threw up. I was weak to this kind of humor.

_ “Knock knock.” _

**“Who’s there?”**

_ “Well it’s not Katie. She is probably in the hospital right about now. Guess swinging was too hard on her head ehh?” _

Once again more laughs.

_ “What is the easiest way to get rid of a tooth? A baseball bat.” _

**“Dentist’s best friend.”**

At that all of the monsters roared with laughter. After a solid four minutes of that West stopped cracking jokes.

_ “Welp, I’d better get going before my brother loses his shit. See ya around soldiers. Keep up the good work.” _

The Finders waved him goodbye and watched as he left. After he was out of sight they closed the door and somehow completely forgot about me. I was also inside. How I got inside was a mystery to me since I was still outside fearing the worst. 

Either way I need to get going. I watched as the Finders walked into a wooden house and closed the door behind them. Just when I thought that I was clear a ragged and torn blue devil like monster was dragged into the middle of the base by two large Finders carrying spears. After a Finder with golden and silver armor gave the thumbs up they promptly killed the monster by stabbing it through the heart and the head. The monster half turned to dust and what seemed to be ash. Then it fell to the ground dead. The Finders who killed it cleaned their weapons and left. The golden and silver armor Finder turned back around to face outside of the outpost.

After trying to calm down after what I just witnessed I realized that my fate would probably be similar if I got caught. After making sure that no one was watching I got ready to run across the opening to the other side. 

I crouched down and got one step before someone grabbed me by my collar and pulled me back behind the building I was behind.

“Shhh. Don’t make a sound.”

After considering my options I went limp and stopped struggling. I was placed gently down on the ground and when I turned around the person flinched. He expected me to hit him!

“Who are you?” I asked. Then I gasped. It was a human.

“OHM-”

The human covered my mouth and looked around.

“Hate to break it to ya but I ain’t no human. I am a human monster that just looks a lot more like a human than a monster.”

He stopped covering my mouth.

“Listen. I know how to sneak through here. Believe it or not I kinda want to help you. You remind me of Mara before she went...well you know.”

I nodded. I wanted to know what Mara was like before she was like the way I saw her. Everyone said she is like me.

“My name is Jasmine. What is yours?”  
“My name is Henry, Henry Delmar.”

“Oh. We are doing full names. Well mine is Ja-”

Henry cut me off with a wave of his hand.

“We have more pressing matters on our hands right now. Come on and follow me.”

_   
  
  
  
_

....

_   
  
  
  
_

I stared at the exit of the outpost. I didn’t really want to be here but Quest is nowhere to be found. I teleported around and talked to Sara and Lora as well as Danny. When I returned, Quest was nowhere to be found and Alert Dog was sitting all by himself. Another reason is I wanted to see how well Jasmine can do or will we have the last soul alre-

The door suddenly cracked open and me and Alert Dog perked up. Out poked Jasmine’s head and then out she came. I expected to see a Finder escorting her but that wasn’t the case. 

**How the hell did she just get the fuck out of there unscathed? **

The answer came out pretty quick. Out came Henry’s head. He saw me and gave me a wary wave and a oh shit smile. 

I felt my own smile widen dangerously and my left eye started ticking. I was pretty certain it was now glowing purple, a death sentence for most.

“SO! You got through! Great! I also see that you had help...”

Alert Dog gave Henry a really look and Henry shrugged. I still stared at him. I was pretty sure Doggo was too, as well as a number of Sparks. 

“Did I do well?”

I was caught off guard at Jasmine’s sudden question and her looking at me, waiting for approval like a little kid. My purple eye stopped and I felt my smile fade for a second.

_ “Yeah. yeah kid you did well.” _

Jasmine squealed happily and started jumping in circles. Alert Dog caught her excitement and started yapping and jumping after her and soon they were playing tag.

**Even if Alert Dog is serious about his job he still is harmless.**

I let out a sigh and watched them play a little longer. How is it possible that they are just like Mara? No...this is some kind of sick fucking cruel joke? There must be some kind of thing going on here. Maybe they are related? Both of them have blond hair. 

**They are from different families though.**

I just have to look into it some more.

“Well congrats on deserve. You only have one more sector or something like that before you reach town.”

I felt my heart skip a beat suddenly at what Alert Dog just said. That means that Quest and Lora will take action. That means they could be in danger. 

I waved Jasmine a queasy goodbye and walked away. I need to talk to Sara now.


	22. A Quitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny overhears a argument while Jasmine gets a sudden violent episode.

When I finally reached the next puzzle, Sara was already there, arguing with Lora about something. I decided to hang back and hide behind a boulder.

** _“Why the hell don’t we just send the Finders after them? The Flaky Outpost is a couple of miles away.”_ **

“Because where would be the damn fun? It is not their job to kill humans unless we order it.”

** _“We are just wasting time playing with our freedom. This fucking place is still our prision Lora!”_ **

“I WANT TO GO BACK TO EARTH! DON’T YOU DARE SAY OTHERWISE!”** **

Sara suddenly let out a sigh and seemed to calm down.

** _“Listen Lora, I am so-”_ **

“You're just saying that because you know that I have nothing against humans. EVER SINCE I TOLD YOU THE DAMN TRUTH THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING.”

** _“It Started When You Said Why Kill The Humans. You're not a quitter sis so stop accusing me of calling you one.”_ **

“Oh I get it now. You're a quitter now aren’t you?” Lora jeered. 

** _“......what did you just call me?”_ **

“YOU HEARD EXACTLY WHAT I JUST SAID.”

** _“Lora...I strongly suggest that you stop now.”_ **

“Or Else What? Your gonna hit me like last time we got in a fight? I Am Waiting Shara! Tell Me What You, My Older Sister Shara Is Going To Do?”  
** _“DO NOT CALL ME THAT FUCKING NAME LORA! MY NAME IS SPELLED SARA.”_ **

“IT IS ALSO SPELLED SHARA AND SARAH. WANT ME TO GET THE BIR-”

** _“I DO NOT NEED THIS RIGHT NOW! THIS ALL STARTED BECAUSE YOU JUST WANT TO PROLONG THE INEVITABLE!”_ **

“Says the one who has been helping the humans.”

** _“You are one hell of a fucking cunt, you know that Lora?”_ **

Things sounded bad. I could feel the tension building up.

** _“I have every intention of killing them. It is just tha-”_ **

“Does it have to do with Mara?”

** _“....”_ ** ** _  
_ **“I thought so. Let me guess. Mara is a human and while she protects humans she has nothing against the plan. So why are you acting like this with humans? It is because you and West made another promise, isn’t it?”

I wondered what promise they agreed to.

“You probably think that me and Quest are too weak or don’t know the danger that humans represent. WE HAVE KILLED HUMANS BEFORE SARA!”

**_“AND THEY NEARLY KILLED YOU LORA! DO YOU FORGET THE SCAR THAT IS ON YOUR GODDAMN CHEST! DID YOU FORGET KEL PROTECTING YOU!? DID YOU FORGET HOW I NEARLY LOST IT!?”_****_  
_** Silence. I could tell that Sara was on the verge of a breakdown. She was breathing hard and while I couldn’t see her perfectly from behind the boulder, the area around her seemed to be glowing red and yellow. 

After a hot minute the glow stopped.

** _“What did we ever do to deserve this Lora? NOTHING. WE DID NOTHING.”_ **

A flash of red embraced the clearing and then went away instantly. I took a peak and saw Sara gone. Lora had tears in her eyes. For a second I thought she would call out my name but instead she just spun around and walked off into the woods.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


I wonder how Danny is doing with his puzzles and traps?

I was walking on a cliff going to the last area. A flash of blue caught my attention. Standing in front of me was the blue rabbit from before. I now realized that it was a he. He had a determined and grim look on his face.

“Human. I am sorry but this is goodbye.”

“Wait. What did I do wr-”

A blue icicle appeared in the air and sped towards me. I let out a yelp and rolled out of the way. My turn now.

I was about to talk when three more icicles appeared and fired themselves at me. Once again I yelped and dodged them. Then two more icicles appeared and again I dodged them. After I recovered I once again tried to talk. I barely got out a word when I noticed that the bunny was gone. 

A flash of blue alerted me and I spun around and caught the bunny monsters fist. I then lashed out instinctively. My fist caught him square in the face and he backed up, clutching his cheek, fear in his eyes.

“O-oh no. I am so sorry. I have no idea what got over me. I am so so-”

An icicle appeared and I quickly darted out of its way. That is when the bunny monster kicked me in the head. I was sent flying and I watched in horror as the ground below me suddenly became a lot smaller. It took me a moment to realize that I had just been kicked off the cliff. I screamed as I plummeted down and down, until my vision went black and a horrible crunching sound filled my ears.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


** _“Oh. Your back. I thought it was a one-time thing.”_ **

I opened one eye and got up slowly. I was back in the box with the girl. Somehow my broken memory remembered being here quite well. Nothing changed.

** _“No hello? Really?”_ **

I looked around and saw the girl again. Her scar was gone but other than that her clothes were the same.

“Sorry. I just can’t believe that a random bunny monster just attacked me for no reason. I am even more shocked though that I attacked him.”

** _“Totally not like yourself?” _ **The girl guessed. I nodded.

** _“Sit down.” _ **The girl offered, patting the ground and sitting down herself.

I sat down on the ground and to my surprise, felt comfortable. The ground wasn’t cold or like I thought it would be.

** _“What if I were to tell you that the bonny monster, or nice cream guy as I like to call him, is kinda a fool.”_ **

“How is he a fool?”

** _“Let’s just say he is blaming you for something you didn’t do...kinda.”_ **

I cocked my head, trying to understand what she was saying. 

“Ugh. I just don’t want to die again. It is...it is just so dark. And I was never afraid of the dark before!”

The girl gave me a confused look.

** _“That is a strange thing to say to someone you just met two or three days ago.”_ **

“What is your name?” I asked, realizing that I have never asked before.

** _“Um...Alicia. My name is Alicia.”_ **

“Okay. My name is Jasmine. My brother’s name is Danny. May I ask how you got hurt before?”

Alicia averted her eyes for a second.

** _“Of course you remember that. Um, that wound is how I died.”_ **

“OH! You are dead...you don’t seem very dead to me.”

Alicia shrugged. 

** _“I felt myself die. I doubt this is the afterlife. I think this is more or less a prision.”_ **

“What did you do wrong?”

** _“I, um...may have hurt a lot of people by accident. It was an accident, I swear!”_ **

Alicia put her hands up, trying to prove her point.

“I believe you. How long have you been here?”

** _“Too long.” _ **

Alicia let out a sigh. 

** _“You're about to wake up. Try talking to the bunny. Just don’t give up, okay?” _ **

I gave her a reassuring thumbs up. That is when the world turned grey and then black.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


I woke up facing the bunny monster. I was back alive again. That is good. Now I just need to talk to th-  
I just narrowly avoided an icicle. 

“WAIT! What did I do wr-”

Was it just me or was the bunny sweating and pointing at the ground?  
I felt a sudden sharp pain shoot through my back. I took a step forward and felt something slide out of my back. I turned around and saw that the ground behind me shot out five icicles. Two of them stabbed me in the back. 

I reached over to my back and felt around. I winced when I found the wound. 

I don’t know what caught my attention back to the bunny monster but I looked back at him. He looked sick but he still had that determined look. He waved his hand and five more icicles appeared in front of me.

“P-plea-”

I didn’t even finish my sentence. All five of them stabbed me right in the head.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


I woke up again in front of the bunny. I felt a strange feeling coming off of my...flower?

I suddenly remembered that I was still in a fight. I looked at the bunny monster and saw an icicle speeding towards me. I quickly dodged out of its way. Three more appeared and also fired themselves at me. I dodged them. Then seven more. I let out a little whine but still managed to dodge them all.

I looked at the bunny monster again. He was looking really tired. Maybe now I can tal-

An icicle suddenly stabbed me though my cheek. It was a feint and I fell for it.

I fell and three icicles came out of the ground and stabbed me in the belly. I felt myself starting to lose consciousness. 

Hold on. Don’t die. Hold on Jasmine. Hold o-

Three icicles sped towards my head. I felt something in me snap. I pushed myself off of the icicles on the ground and did a backflip over the three heading towards me. 

The bunny gave me a terrified look but then sent six icicles at me. I looked at them briefly then started running at the bunny monster. I dodged five of the icicles and grabbed the sixth one out of the air. I then lunged at the bunny monster, raising the icicle above my head, planning to stab it down right on his head. The bunny monster looked up, truly terrified. 

Suddenly the icicle disappeared in my hand. I guess it is magic after all. That still didn’t stop me. I punched the monster bunny to the ground and started beating him. I kept on punching. I could feel the monster bunny start to turn to dust. 

I suddenly felt a prickle of danger. I turned around and saw three icicles speeding towards me. I ducked over them and grabbed the last one and raised it up. If I stab quickly, I can kill the bunny before he makes the icicle disappear.

It was at that moment that I realized what I was doing. I felt tears spring into my eyes. I was about to kill someone! 

I got off the bunny monster and threw the icicle to the ground. I then took a couple of steps back and covered my mouth. The bunny monster was bleeding and half turning to dust and ash. I need to help him fast!

Looking around I remembered that I still have some supplies in the medkit. I pulled it out and looked around. There was a bag in it that said monster pills. I didn’t know if it would work or not but the bunny monster was going to die if I did nothing. 

With a sorry I took out two blue pills and put them in the monster bunny’s open mouth. I then closed his mouth and stroked his throat so he would swallow. Glad to know that some things work with both monsters and humans.

_ “There there. Y-you will be better soon. I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you. I-i just wanted you to stop killing me. I promise that I will find a way to stop this from ever happening again. I promise.” _

  
  
  
  
  


....

  
  
  
  


I was walking when I noticed a little shop. I went closer and realized that it was a food stand.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

A knight suddenly got up from behind the counter. 

“Oh. Sorry for scaring you. I was getting something. Anyway, my name is Burgerpants and yes I know, the name is terrible. My mother hates me.”

Burgerpants sounded friendly enough. He had two cute tiny ears sticking out of his helmet. They were like tiny bear ears.

“Anyway, welcome to my shop. I raise money for the Finders. I take my job very seriously so expect only the best of services. What can I get ya?”

I took a look at the prices and then counted the coins that I managed to find on the ground and in other places. I had enough for an expensive item and a cheap one. Now what to get.

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


In the end I got a face steak and a golden bagel. Burgerpants also gave me a cooler or something that can keep the food nice and fresh free of charge. I decided that I would wait for Jasmine before I started eating any of it. Sharing is caring after all.

“HUMAN!”  
I jumped at Lora’s sudden call. I saw her now, walking out of a sentry station. There was a massive white dog at her side with a white spear with a face on the sharp spear end.

“Y-yes Lorci?” I asked, thanking god that I remembered the name she told me to call her.

Lora came closer until she was four feet ahead of me. She placed down her bone and crossed her arms.

“First of all, I want to congr-”

Her eyes suddenly darted to the cooler I was holding.

“You do know that the cooler can fold up until it fits in your pocket, right?”

I did not know that.

“The button is in the front by the brand name.”

I pressed the button and watched as the cooler turned into a tiny box. I slipped it into my pocket.

“Don’t worry, the food in there will be fine. Now people on the other hand...heh.”

“Please do-”

“They end up crushed. So much dust and ash. Some bones too. Well for a human I think it will just be blood and guts. Some bones too.”

That was an image I did not want to see that was now stuck in my brain.

“Anyway. I wanted to congratulate you. Due to some.....unexplained reasons, most of our deadly puzzles and traps have been disabled. I should really say sabotaged. Anyway, there is one more puzzle up ahead. Come on, we must get going. Cannot be late.”

Lora spun around and started to walk off. I was about to follow her when she suddenly whirled into a battle position, facing the forest. A red fireball was in her hand and her eyes were staring intently into the pines. 

“I saw that. Come out now. This human is under my protection currently. You want to kill them then come and face me.”

I didn’t understand who she was talking too. No one was there.

A shadow moving in between two trees caught my attention. That was the person.

“You have five seconds before I go in there and I FUCKING DUST YOU!”

I winced at Lora’s sudden outburst.

“Five, four, three, two, One! Ready or not fucker, here I come!”

Lora’s bone suddenly lit up the area. I expected to see monsters sitting in an ambush position but instead there was a hanging monster, a female fish looking monster, swinging back and forth with dust underneath her feet. She clearly hanged herself.

Lora looked at her and then relaxed.

“False alarm.” She said to me before turning and marching forward.

“What happened to her?” I asked. I knew it was a stupid question.

Lora stopped and without even turning back snarled one sentence.

“She’s a quitter.”


	23. Magma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magma Dog stops Jasmine from continuing forward. Are they going to fight!?

I was still worried about the bunny monster when a black and grey spear impaled the ground in front of me. I was too stunned and dazed to care much. Instead I just stared at it awkwardly.

“Something got you upset human.”

I looked up and saw an orange and red dog standing in front of me. He looked a lot like Alert Dog but unlike Alert Dog this dog was bigger and scarier. He looked tough. His nose is scarred and he has a long jagged scar on the left side of him. He has yellow eyes with orange pupils. 

“If you think that I am here to kill you then you are wrong. Unfortunately I have been told by Sara and West to keep you at bay. Now also unfortunately, for you, black flakes are going to be coming down at any moment and Sara’s Canine Unit is looking for you back the way you just came. With the town being in front of me you will die by the weather. In other words you are screwed.”

I let what he said sink in. I was going to die, again.

I started crying suddenly. I felt terrible. All of this was just too much for me. Mara, losing Danny, losing my memory, getting killed, the dark jokes, the bunny monster, and now this, waiting here to get snowed on by black snow or flakes or whatever the hell they are called! Why couldn’t dad send out people who were prepared for this? Does he not love me? Does he expect me to be able to do this!?

“If you think crying is gonna get you out of this one you are wrong. I have been here for a very long time. I was a part of the Loyal Knights. Not much can phase me.”

_ “I can’t take this anymore.” _

I fell to the ground, huddled in a ball. The orange and red dog was giving me a strange look, searching me for something.

_ “I wanted to stay with Mara since she seemed nice and even after she attacked me I still wanted to be her friend. Then she thought we were going to kill her so she kicked us out. After that we met Quest, West, Sara and Lora. It was fun until everything started hurting. I befriended my way out of everything though. I convinced the Finders that we were no threat. Sara invited me to stay at her house if I can befriend Lora and Quest. Once again everything seemed to be fine. Then I died by a flower and the worst part is that I think Sara knew it would kill me. Then I met Alert Dog and he was cute. Then I asked West for his approval and he gave it to me but I could tell he hated me. Why does everyone hate me!? What did I do wrong? I’ve done nothing but try and be their friend. I don’t care what the other humans have done. All I know is what I have done and I have done nothing but still everyone tries to kill me. The only nice person is that girl with the grey sweatshirt and the knife mark and a monster named Henry Delmarr. I never got a chance to even talk to Alert Dog and try and be his friend. _

_ “I just want a chance to make everyone see that I just want to be their friend. I think all monsters are amazing. Compared to my family who, besides Danny, seem to hate me and so do their friends. Does no one love me? Everyone seems like they hate me and I just don’t get it. What did I ever do wrong. What did I do wrong?” _

My voice trailed off. The orange and red dog was still giving me a searching look. He then let out a sigh.

“You're not faking it are you?”

I shook my head.

_ “F-faking what?” _

The dog sighed and then walked over to me and sat down right beside me. I got the urge to pet him but his hair looked like bristles and I didn’t know that he would like it.

“What is your name kid?”

_ “J-Jasmine.” _

“Jasmine. None of this is your fault. I was raised to hate humans yet still be reasonable with them. Yet...you are the first human that I have seen that is innocent.”

The dog let out a sigh and looked away.

“When Mara came here I thought she would be like the humans we have learned to hate and fear. Instead she was a sweetheart. You're even more innocent than her. I do know what is going on with you though.

“I got a report from L.W. Stalker about a militarized girl. I started stalking you and eventually I saw you attack Nice Cream Guy. I knew right away that it was a program or something. You really are an innocent girl.”

_ “I didn’t mean to attack him. Is he okay?” _

The dog smiled.

“Yeah he is okay. He attacked you because he thought it would get his customers back. He was friends with them all. He was also in denile. The reason his customers are gone is because they are dead. Our world is.....”

The dog let out another sigh.

“You see our star kid? Jasmine? That star is more than just what this asteroid orbits around. A powerful being called Barracuda made it for us. It acts as a defense system, an attacking system, and our home. It also tells our condition. The star dies when we all die. But why is it cracked? Not because of questionable physics since how can magma crack?”

I let out a giggle. I felt safe around this dog for some reason, even if he is going to let me die by flakes.

“The reason it is cracked is because we are broken. We have lost what made monsters different than humans. I mean we are but we are now like them in the way that we tear at each other’s throat. If it isn’t cracked then we are fixed and normal.”

_ “Do you think if I gave myself up that the star would fix itself?” _

I felt myself drifting away. I could tell that it was starting to snow.

“Shh. Don’t think about that right now.”

His voice grew softer.

“You don’t need to worry about that right now. It’s okay. You don’t need to worry about that right now. Just close your eyes and forget about the worries that our world brings. Dream your dream since nothing in there can hurt you. You are safe.”

  
  
  


....

  
  
  


I could easily kill Jasmine right now. She was sleeping and I could just kill her without hurting her. Just in and out. But for some reason I don’t. I can’t just kill her. She is what the Loyal Knights said were redeemable. I just hope Kel can realize that. 

I let out a sigh. There was no way that I could bring her to a shelter in time before that flower on her head dies and since it is on her it will probably make her really sick. 

I shook my head but gingerly curled into a ball around her. My fur started glowing and I raised my body temperature. 

“I am still loyal to the Loyal Knights and I know better than anyone what they were going to do in the first place. You're safe here Jasmine. You're safe here.”


	24. The Last Puzzle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny gets given a final task to do and Jasmine faces her final puzzle. Unfortunately, some monsters might have to resort to their plan B.

Lora was up ahead. She was talking to a fish monster. I scanned the ground for a puzzle but nothing was there. Maybe it was a trap. Lora suddenly perked up as I approached and turned to face me. The fish monster did so too.

**“That is the human? They look a little small.”**

Lora shrugged. 

“Monsters are generally tall. He also is a small human or something. West and Sara as well as Magma Dog call him and Jasmine kid as a nickname because of their height.”

Is she for real? Did she not know that me and Jasmine were kids this whole time! Is she that naive?

Judging from the look the fish monster was giving her I took that as a yes that she is that naive.

“What is it?” Lora asked, noticing the look me and the fish monster were giving her.

“Me and Jasmine are fifteen years old. We are still kids.”

Some would argue that we are teenagers but to my dads and everyone else’s eyes that work for him we are still just kids and must be treated as such. 

Lora opened and closed her mouth.

“Oh. Got it.”

A really awkward silence then followed. Finally Lora cleared her throat.

“For your last task, I need you to go and find Sara. I haven’t seen her and I am worried.”

Wait. Final. That means no more.

“This is the last one?” I asked.

“No. This is the last one that you are alone for. We still have one more for both you and Jasmine.”

The fish monster started speaking.

“**Sara was last seen going into Flaky Town’s bar. She must have left because no one has seen her since. And before you check she is out of the bar.”**

I nodded.

**“Oh. Sara seemed upset. It is best not to get on her nerves. While monsters don’t get drunk easily she did have about two gallons to drink in one sitting and non-stop. Be careful.”**

I couldn’t help but catch Lora’s guilty look.

“I will try my best.”

Lora nodded.

“GREAT! I will be up ahead with Jasmine and West and Quest. Bobby over here will be waiting here for you to come so just find him and he will bring you to us.”

Bobby gave me a thumbs up. 

  
  


....

  
  
  


I saw three shapes up ahead. I recognized them almost immediately. The tall red one is Quest and the one wearing the blue jacket must be West. Standing with them too was another person but I didn’t recognize them. When I got closer I saw that it was a pale small but tall dog...if that makes any sense. Well the dog was definitely a breed of small dog and was not tall but they were long and is a little bigger than a german shepard.

“OH MY GOD! I AM SO EXCITED!”

The dog had a young and hyper voice. The dog was definitely a he.

**“Human child named Mara. This right here is Alert Dog. He is an expert puzzle and trap maker. He is only four years old too.”**

“I am nine in dog years!” Alert Dog complained, giving Quest an annoyed look. He was too excited to be annoyed for long though since he instantly turned back to look at me.

“Okay okay okay. This is a puzzle that I have made. It works by the tiles changing color.”

“What ti-”

Alert Dog suddenly whipped out a red button and pressed it. The white stuff in front of me suddenly gave away to a disco-like square.

“Would you like the honor?” Alert Dog asked Quest. Quest nodded and West gave him a thumbs up.

**“Black tiles are impassable, pink tiles are passable, orange tiles are orange scented and stepping on them will make you smell like oranges. If you step on the murky green tile and smell like oranges the flesh eating fish in them won’t attack you. If you step on a red tile you will smell like blood and the flesh eating fish will attack you. The dark blue tiles have electric eels in them but if you smell like blood they will attack you as well as oranges. They won’t attack you normally. If you step on a gold tile you will get a hearty and this time non deadly zap. If you step on a grey tile it will move you back. If you step on a purple tile you will have to dodge a rubber fist which will punch you either three, two, or one space back. Finally, a green tile will heal you but if you smell like oranges they will hurt you instead.”**

I was now at a loss for words. I was about to ask if he would repeat the instructions again when Quest suddenly snapped his fingers.

**“ARE YOU READY!? Here comes the puzzle! Alert Dog! If you will.”**

Alert Dog pressed the button again and the tiles started to change color randomly, switching every few seconds.

“Boy I should have brought popcorn. Wait, I don’t like popcorn.”

West was a nice person but I forgot just how much of a jerk he can be at times.

I was sweating now as I tried to remember the pattern of the tiles. Nothing clicked. Suddenly the tiles turned black. A three square wide pink path went in the middle. Quest’s jaw dropped and West gave the puzzle a dumbstruck look. Alert Dog was giving the puzzle that he made a even more dumbstruck look.

**“Narrr?”**

“Wha-?”

Alert Dog was completely silent. Very slowly he walked over into the middle of the puzzle and raised his right paw and did some paw signal. Three tiles that were connected rose up and he flipped them over. After a long moment he impaled a black fake snowpiece with his claw and raised it up for everyone to see.

“The flake burned through the reactor.”

West shook his head and stopped staring at the puzzle.

“The word flake for the fake snow is never going to stick Alert Dog.”

West walked over to see the black snow piece.

“Let’s just leave it here for now. Come on buddy.”

West guided Alert Dog away from his failed puzzle. Quest, after staring a while longer, shrugged at me and walked off.

  
  
  


**....**

  
  
  


**“HUMAN! I AM GLAD TO TELL YOU THAT THIS IS THE LAST PUZZLE BEFORE YOU MEET DANNY AGAIN. AREN’T YOU HAPPY?”**

I wasn’t really. I wanted to see Danny again yes but that also means that if we were to continue forward I wouldn’t see Quest again. 

“Yes.” I still said, hoping that I sound happier then I really am.

**“GOOD! THIS IS A PUZZLE THAT ALERT DOG CREATED MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY YEARS AGO. WHILE I FORGOT THE PROBLEM WITH IT WE CHECKED IT AGAIN. EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE RIGHT WITH IT SO HERE WE GO.”**

West was looking at the clear ground in front of us with an unsure look. When Quest said go he searched around in his coat pockets before pulling out a red button and pressing it. The sound of machinery could be heard but no puzzle came up. 

West was now staring hard at the ground, an irritated look on his face while Quest just tapped his foot, patiently waiting for something to happen. 

Finally a disco-looking square came up from beneath the flakes.

**“NOW I WILL EXPLAIN HOW THIS PUZZLE WORKS.”**

Quest took a giant breath.

**“Black tiles are impassable, pink tiles are passable, orange tiles are orange scented and stepping on them will make you smell like oranges. If you step on the murky green tile and smell like oranges the flesh eating fish in them won’t attack you. If you step on a red tile you will smell like blood and the flesh eating fish will attack you. The dark blue tiles have electric eels in them but if you smell like blood they will attack you as well as oranges. They won’t attack you normally. If you step on a gold tile you will get a hearty and this time non deadly zap. If you step on a grey tile it will move you back. If you step on a purple tile you will have to dodge a rubber fist which will punch you either three, two, or one space back. Finally, a green tile will heal you but if you smell like oranges they will hurt you instead.”**

“Um. Can I get a re-”

**“ARE YOU READY!? WEST! PRESS THE BUTTON!”**

West let out a snicker.

_ “Y-yep. That is life bud.” _

West then pushed the button and all the tiles started changing colors. West was distracted by something and turned around. I was too busy looking at the puzzle to see what got his attention.

Suddenly the puzzle turned black and a one square wide pink path appeared. It went all over the place but it was a clear and direct path. Quest had his jaw wide open while I let out a smile of relief.

“Well, compared to last time the pink path is way more difficult and not direct.”

I looked up and spotted Alert Dog looking at the puzzle he made with disgust. That was what distracted West.

“I am going to assume you never completely fixed the core of it.”

Quest shook his head and then took in a deep breath, his hands to his head, then started spinning in circles, saying nothing but it all too well looked like he was mouthing curse words. His scarf cape turned bluish red and Quest suddenly turned around and stormed off.

I walked down the path and then stopped. Was it just me or was there something not quite right with this middle section. A burned twig or something was caught sticking out. I kneeled down next to it.

“Wait a minute. Aha!”  
Alert Dog suddenly leaped up into the air and landed right next to me, landing perfectly on the trail.

“Well congratulations on deserve Jasmine, you have quite the eye.”

West pushed the button again and the tiles turned off. Alert Dog then took out the stick.

“That was the problem...probably.”

_ “Don’t worry Jass. You don’t have to go through the puzzle again. Just go on and get it.” _

I decided to take West’s advice. I don’t want to upset him. He seems cranky for some reason. I heard him asking Quest if he had seen Sara around earlier. He hadn’t.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see Danny and tell him about the adventure that I had.

  
  
  


....

I heard Sara’s voice up ahead. I turned around a bend in the path and saw what must have been eight white dog monsters in silver armor. They saw me and started giving chase. I thought I saw Sara in there with them but I couldn’t tell for sure.

Now I was running, running away from certain death. I wondered briefly if they were apart of the Finders but the more I thought about that the more it didn’t make any sense.

As I ran deeper into the white flaked covered dark pine woods I suddenly remembered someone telling me of Sara’s Canine Unit. It was probably them who were chasing me right now. I wondered why they were since Sara wanted me to get captured until I realized that Sara had a massive argument with Lora asking why not let the Finders kill them. This is probably Sara attempting to kill me to end the whole capture and kill thing. 

An idea suddenly hit me. The dogs were nearly upon me. I quickly went in my pocket and pulled out a couple of alcohol wipes. They were in the medkit that me and Jasmine were given and while most of the supplies were with Jasmine I did have a few supplies as well. 

I suddenly dove into a bush. After making sure the wipes were everywhere I crawled out and hid behind a tree. A second later the dogs came in. The stopped and started sniffing the bush. Judging by the whines that the wipes were working. Suddenly I heard the sound of someone walking up to the bush.

** _“He got away I assume?”_ **

“Yes Sara!”

_ “Sorry Sara.” _

** _“Don’t be. I don’t think he ever heard of my unit so he couldn’t have known that I was behind it. Sorry Danny but I cannot afford to wait anymore. Let’s move out and get back to base so I can heal your noses.”_ **

I waited for about five minutes before I went out. So Sara and her army are now after me. Great.

I better get going. If I can make it to Lora and West and Quest I will probably be safe...at least I hope.


	25. The True Last Puzzle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of the Finders show up to the last puzzle but things quickly take a turn for the worst.

It was around thirty minutes later when Danny finally showed up. He looked shaken and gave me a weary wave.

_ “You're late.” _West pointed out, giving Lora a sideways glance. Lora didn’t notice it.

“Sorry. Just got caught up.”

Danny walked over to me.

“So, how did your puzzles and traps go?”

I gave Danny a thumbs up. Danny narrowed his eyes suspiciously at me and West did the same.

_ “You’re not talking now? Why?” _

I raised two fingers up.

_ “Two reasons? Well then, might as well explain until Quest gets back. Here, take this.” _

West pulled out a notebook and a pen from his coat pockets.

“How much stuff do you have in there?” Danny asked.

“Trust me, too much. You don’t want to know what he has in there. It will take ten minutes.”

Now I really wanted to know but Danny nodded and said no more on the subject.

After about six minutes Quest finally came back. Following him was Sara, who looked pissed off at something. Danny seemed to shrink a little as she approached.

“Ah! Sister! Where have you been?”

Sara gave her a glance but then looked down at the ground.

** _“I went to the Lab. Wanted to make sure that everything was alright there.”_ **

**“THAT IS WHERE I FOUND HER BROTHER.”**

West gave a nod but I could tell he didn’t believe Sara or Quest. Why doesn’t he believe Quest? He is awesome!

_ “Your human won’t talk Quest.” _West told him, pointing at me.

**“Hmmm. I DON’T SEE WHY SHE ISN’T. HUMAN, CAN YOU EXPLAIN?”****  
** I quickly wrote on the notebook. Once I was done Quest and West came over to look at what I had written down.

_ ““Quest told me not to talk so I am not talking.”” _

West and Quest cast a long look at me.

**“I was talking to West. I didn’t want him to ruin the puzzle.”**

Now I felt really stupid. When he said that before he was looking at me. I guess since I was the only human there it only made sense to look at me...right? I am so very confused right now. I also had a feeling that I know what is going to happen next.

_ “BWUAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Oh Nyeh heh heh. R-really kid? Really!?” _

Never before have I heard someone laugh saying Nyeh. It sounds something like Narr so I guess it makes sense in that way since his brother, Quest, laughs like that.

**“Narr. WEST, NOW IS NOT THE TIME.”**

Quest turned to look at me.

**“JASMINE. I DO HAVE TO SAY THAT I DO ADMIRE YOUR TENACITY AND PERSEVERANCE. YOU STAYED QUITE THE ENTIRE TIME! YOUR GOOD IN MY BOOKS. ALSO YOU CAN TALK NOW.”**

I couldn’t help but blush.

I noticed that Lora was looking at Sara with a pleading look in her eyes. Sara was completely ignoring it. She definitely looked stressed at something.

The sound of heavy metal footsteps approaching caught my attention. I turned to face behind West. Behind West and Sara was a long wooden bridge. I could just barely see a person wearing metal armor walking towards us.

_ “Ah. That would be Danny.” _

“Who is?” Danny asked. Lora pointed to the bridge with her bone. Danny squinted his eyes until he saw the person. Quest started waving.

When the person was halfway across the bridge I noticed Alert Dog and that orange dog walking behind them. The orange dog had his black and grey spear floating above his head.

** _“Took ya long enough.” _ **Sara snapped when they finally crossed the bridge.

“Yeah well I had to go talk with Kel about the plans of reforming the Loyal Knights again.” The orange dog spat out, clearly annoyed by something.

_ “Say, I never got your name. What is it?” _

Everyone turned towards me. 

_ “The second reason I wasn’t talking is that it hurts to talk. My voice will get better soon.” _

The person wearing the armor turned towards West and pointed directly at my flower. West nodded slightly.

“Well my name is Magma Dog but you can call me Magma for short.”

Sara walked up to me.

** _“.....How are you feeling kid?”_ **

_ “I’m feeling fine. Why do you ask?” _

** _“Because your voice sounds like a cranky old guy’s voice.”_ **

I let out a laugh and Sara looked taken back by it. She quickly turned away.

_ “D-did I do something wrong?” _I asked her. She didn’t reply.

_ “Listen kiddo, we might need to do something about your flower problem.” _

I looked at West. Didn’t he remember what happened before? Didn’t he know that cutting it will kill me which is why he wanted me to cut it beforehand? Or maybe he just had a theory about it before and he was right? 

West narrowed his eyes at me and his smile lessened.

_ “W-what is with the blank stare? Not my fault you didn’t listen to me before _ ** _bud_ ** _ . Now looks like you're in a whole bunch of trouble. No _ ** _leaf _ ** _ about it. Hate to see a little _ ** _seed_ ** _ ling go out this way but I did warn ya.” _

Quest took in a deep breath and Sara gave West a ticked off look.

**“WEST WHY DO YOU DO THIS! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE ALL OF THESE PUNS!? CAN’T YOU EVER BE SERIOUS FOR JUST ONCE!?”**

West looked taken back at the last thing Quest had said.

_ “W-wha-? What do you mean that I am not serious?” _

**“I MEAN EXACTLY WHAT I SAID! YOU HANG AROUND ME ALL DAY AND YOU ALWAYS PLAY GAMES! YOU HID THE HUMANS AND THEN PISSED SARA OFF SO WE COULD FIND THEM! WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPEN IF SARA NEVER DESTROYED THE LAMP HUH? YOU PROBABLY WOULD HAVE HID THEM A WHILE LONGER AND WASTE TIME! AND THEN THERE IS THE FACT THAT YOU NEVER LEAVE MY GODDAMN SIDE! YOU STICK AROUND ME ALMOST ALL THE DAMN TIME. DON’T THINK I DON’T KNOW WHAT THOSE YELLOW EYES ARE WEST! I WAS THERE WHEN YOU FOUGHT AND I WAS THERE WHEN G-DOG GAVE THE TELEGRAM FROM ANTI WHO IS THE LEADER OF THE JUDGES! WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF? YOUR ONE OF THE STRONGEST MONSTERS HERE, MAYBE EVEN THE STRONGEST, AND YOU STICK AROUND ME EVEN IF YOU KNOW THAT I CAN HANDLE MYSELF. THOSE EXPERIMENTS THAT FATHER DID WEREN’T FOR NOTHING WEST!”**

The yelling suddenly stopped when Quest saw West’s crestfallen face. 

**“West I-”**

West put his hand up. His eyes were hollow, his smile gone.

_ “I-i’ll just go.” _

**“West Wai-”**

West was suddenly gone, faster than a blink of an eye. He was gone and left no trace of where he went. Quest looked heart broken and I knew that nothing I could do would help.

“Um Quest? I have bad news.” 

Everyone turned towards Alert Dog, who was looking at a yellow orb that he pulled out.

“The magic broke. It is too old.”

Quest opened his mouth and then closed it. Without another word he spun around and walked off, going deeper into the woods. Danny looked around and then shrugged before walking off back across the bridge. With a final look of sorrow at Quest’s tiny shape Lora also spun around but ran across the bridge instead.

Sara looked expectantly at Magma Dog and after giving her a suspicious look he and Alert Dog went across the bridge and left.

** _“Alright kids, I am gonna give it to you straight.”_ **

Sara said, turning to face Danny and I.

** _“Lora probably has no clue what to do now. She might just want to fight you. If she does and you hurt her...”_ **

Sara’s eyes disappeared and a strange black liquid started dripping from her empty eye sockets.

** _“...I Will Kill Both Of You.”_ **

Sara then walked off, into the woods. How did things take such a turn so fast?


	26. Flaky Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Jasmine finally make it into town. They also learn more about West and that Lora is waiting for them at the end of town to fight them. Things are finally wrapping up in the Flaky Forest Ark.

The bridge wasn’t a trap like Danny kept on talking about. On the other side of the bridge were two wooden sentry posts guarding a stone gate. In them were two armored Finders. I recognized one of them as the monster that executed the other monster.   
They raised their spears when they noticed us and Danny took a step in front of me.   
“Hold it. Let them through.”  
I looked around and saw that Magma Dog somehow was perched on top of the stone gate. His eyes were glued on the Finders and his spear was floating in slow circles above his head. There was a clear and dangerous look in his eyes.  
“B-but sir! This is a hu-”  
“I know clearly what they are. Let them through.”  
Magma’s spear stopped moving and pointed itself at the finder who spoke. The Finder, after a long and tense moment, nodded and pulled a lever. With a slow groaning sound the gate opened. Magma Dog jumped down and walked up to the sentry stations.  
“And before you start spreading rumors that I am a quitter, these humans have passed the tests. The law of capturing humans states that they must be let in. Don’t worry, I doubt they will survive for much longer.”  
The Finders looked only more confused but they nodded and went back to watching the bridge.  
“Well, you kids coming?”  
Danny shrugged and we walked after Magma Dog who, without waiting for a response, started walking through the gate.

....

It wasn’t long until we entered the town. It wasn’t what I was expecting from a town. It was all dark and gloomy looking.  
The houses, while nice looking, (except for a few) were damaged with battle marks on them. Dust and ash was scattered around a few dark spots.  
“Are those?”  
Magma Dog nodded.   
The rest of the houses looked like a wooden hobbit house. Most of the lights were off in the town. There were a few archer towers scattered around which had a Finder member in it. Big searchlights were also mounted on a few of the archer towers. They went over me and Danny a few times but once the light caught Magma Dog they quickly went off of us.   
The town itself was lit up nicely but it still looked like it was dark. As we walked by I saw a monster being hanged up in front of a big building made of solid looking stone bricks. The monster was disemboweled before they were hung by the looks of it. More weird stuff that my father made me learn.  
“I...uh. I would love to say nice town but...”  
Magma Dog let out a chuckle at Danny’s nervous comment.  
“Yep, ain’t our town wonderful? Believe it or not this town is the second most populated town. The other one is located further in, behind the Palace actually. They are a bunch of snob-faced cowards.”  
I felt a prickle of unease at Magma Dog’s comment on the other town.  
“Oh look at us! We are what monsters are suppose to be like! Eating carrots and painting everything colorfully.”  
I laughed at Magma Dog’s impersonation of the monsters in the town. He sounded funny and if they sound like that then no wonder Magma Dog can’t take them seriously.  
“If I had it my way...they’d be dead.”  
And things just took a dark turn fast.  
“But no. Rescue Dog wants to watch that town. He wants to see”progress”. I hope they know that they are at his mercy. If he says do whatever...”  
Magma Dog smiled, a sharp toothy filled dangerous smile.   
“We are monsters after all, war is in our nature. Well not war but fighting. Also, we never attacked anything that the humans never gave us permission to attack.”  
Danny seemed to look interested at that fact.  
“Who is Rescue Dog?” I asked. Magma Dog stopped walking and turned around.  
“Haven’t heard of him? Well he is the king of the asteroid. Our Queen, Kel, let him take charge after he came up. He is a really good king but he made some bad choices. He isn’t a bad king though!”  
“If you say so.” I replied cheerfully.  
“Did you know that Rescue Dog was given his name by the humans? He actually was called the savior of mankind.”  
I let out a gasp.  
“Really!”  
Magma Dog let out a wistful sigh.  
“Yeah. Most of the monsters named “Dog” were a part of his team. Me included. When the humans betrayed us he was sent into the mountain. Rescue Dog, not believing that the humans betrayed him after everything that he did for them, went back out and was attacked. He barely survived and his companion was killed. The thing is he could have killed those humans who attacked him but he didn’t. He was banished up here and became ruler ever since. He never really did anything until later on when West was attacked. While he did his best to maintain order he soon shaped out to be a feared king. He is still pretty tamed compared to what the other monsters are like but he still has done his wrongs. Pity what our world has become but no one can’t say that we tried.”  
I couldn’t help but feel bad. I somehow feel like this is my fault. Danny must have caught on since he grabbed my hand gently.  
“It isn’t anyone’s fault Jass. Blame the humans of the past.”  
I nodded.   
We spent the next thirty minutes walking around the town. A few of the monsters were out but when we talked to them they either looked really scared but threatened us, or say something cynical about us being dead soon.  
Finally, we stopped in front of a medium sized house with a crooked walkway leading to the front door. The house was a light blue with a dark red roof. The inside was dark but I could just barely make out a TV playing.  
“This is the Redeye’s house.”  
“Who are they?” I asked.  
Magma Dog gave me and Danny a sideways glance.  
“This is the house of West, Quest, and Belnargd.”  
“Their last name is Redeye?” Danny asked, surprised.  
“Yep. Kina ironic if you think about it since only one of them right now has any red in their eyes and that is Quest. West and Belnargd have golden yellow pupils normally. West didn’t always have that red ring nor the golden tooth.”  
“Who is Belnargd?”   
“Belnargd is the father of West and Quest. Didn’t sara say something to you about that?”  
I tried to remember if she did but nothing came up.  
“I kinda lost part of my memory.” I told him truthfully.  
“Explains why probably you didn’t recognize me earlier. Well okay. At least your voice is getting better.”  
That wasn’t the truth.  
“It isn’t. I just got used to the pain.”  
Magma Dog and Danny both gave me a look.  
“I don’t think that is good for you.” Magma Dog told me.  
Danny suddenly strained his eyes at the woods that were behind the town.  
“What is this place called?” I asked, not remembering if I got the name or not.  
“Flaky Town. Was once called Ashfall town. Changed its name since all the fuel that we produced went to waste when the flakes started coming down.”  
Danny shook his head slightly.  
“What is it?” I asked him, curious.  
“I swore I saw a hooded figure with a glowing purple eye watching me from the woods but I can’t find them now.”  
Magma Dog perked up and swiveled his head around to take a look. He went rigid for a couple of seconds but then he quickly turned around without doing anything.  
“I see nothing.”   
Danny raised an eyebrow at him. I guess he too thought that Magma Dog was lying at this moment. Either way he said nothing on the matter.  
“Well, time to bring you to the Inn. Don’t worry, I will be guarding it.”  
As Magma Dog and Danny started walking off I turned around and looked through a window of the Redeye’s house. Was it just me or did I see someone sitting by the TV?  
My eyes started adjusting and sure enough there was West, surrounded by a bunch of floating shapes with glowing yellow eyes, reading what looked like the journal that was in Mara’s house. He seemed to be completely lost in thought and it looked like he was on the verge of crying. I felt bad for him. I guess he wasn’t completely a bad guy. He seemed to be really hurt by what Quest said to him.  
While it is true that I wanted West to feel highly of me I never once thought about what made him the way he is. Magma Dog said his left eye never did have a red ring around it and in Mara’s house there was a painting or picture stating that she never forgot what West was like before. He even apparently wore a different jacket too.  
“What happened?”  
I nearly let out a scream but I stopped myself. I turned and saw Henry standing there, peering through the window.  
“West got yelled at by his brother.”  
“Oof. What did he say to him?”  
“How he is never serious and how he always sticks around him but never gets anything done.”  
Henry let out a sigh and backed away from the window.  
“Yep, that ought to do it.”  
I cocked my head, confused.  
“What does?”  
Henry looked back through the window.  
“When West got attacked his brother apparently saved him. West was extremely grateful but also really paranoid. He started attacking anything that moved without him knowing who it was. It was funny at first until he started killing people. Quest became his beacon and started calming him down. Then Quest got attacked by a gang. He was defeated but at the last moment West walked up on the scene. No one but Quest knows what happened but the area is now reduced to a crater. Ever since then West started sticking with Quest and his friends, you know, Sara, Lora, me, and even his father. While I don’t know what those things are I do know that they do watch over everything. West even speaks to them and they seem to speak back.”  
That does explain why I always feel like he is talking to someone else when he whispers something.   
Suddenly, one of the yellow pairs of eyes looked towards the window. I quickly ducked into cover.  
“Time to go before they go to investigate.” Henry said, offering me a hand. I took it and we quickly left the scene.

....

We eventually did catch up to Magma Dog and Danny who were waiting there impatiently by the looks of it.  
“Hello Henry Delmarr.” Magma Dog snarled. Henry shrugged.  
“You're still salty for me helping Jasmine out back there? Fine by me.”  
Magma Dog flashed him a toothy smile.  
“We all know that ain’t true. You're just lucky that me and the others like you.”  
Magma Dog got up and shook himself free of rock powder and flakes.   
“Well, this is the Inn. I shall book you two rooms and then be on my way.”  
The Inn was a big wooden building with windows on the top level or second floor and two unfriendly looking wooden doors. The doors were big and heavy looking. Above them was a sign saying The Flaky Inn. This place didn’t really feel inviting but I had the feeling that the monster who owns it didn't care. Nothing in this town looks inviting.  
Just before Magma Dog walked into the door he turned around.  
“Oh yeah, Lora is up ahead. She is planning on fighting you guys. If I were you I would take tonight to think of a plan.”  
“There is no night time here!” Danny pointed out stubbornly.  
“There is. The star’s light dies down and the asteroid becomes dark. You never noticed it before because it is dark in the Flaky Woods. No one knows why but it just is most of the time dark. Night time in Flaky Town and the other areas are darker so just get inside and stop your pouting.”  
Then Magma Dog opened the door and went in. (I have no idea how he opened it without thumbs)   
The door slammed shut behind him leaving me and Danny alone outside.


	27. I AM GOING TO F**KING RUIN YOU!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD! Is Lora going to fight Danny and Jasmine!? Of course she is.

Lora stood there, watching us carefully and wearily, her massive bone staff resting on her left shoulder. She wasn’t really at the end of the town but more of past the gate. Me and Danny did think of a plan but of course I forgot it which led to Danny yelling at me and then forgetting it too. Now we are planless and facing Lora.  
“It is your turn humans.”   
I forgot that there are two ways to fight. The bunny monster chooses the unfair way but it looks like Lora is doing the fair way.   
I tried to remember a way out of this mess. I think I remember Danny telling me earlier that monsters must spare humans if they know that the human can kill them. I rejected the idea and Danny rolled his eyes at me. There must be another way to do this without hurting anyone.  
“Do we have to do this? Is there not another way?”  
Lora just shrugged.  
“Hell if I know? Just get ready to die.”  
Lora smiled at me then in one swift movement got her bone off of her shoulder and twirled it around like a spear or staff behind her while her right hand was pointing at me. Dark red fireballs appeared in the air and went at me. I dodged them easily. They were fast but I could easily side step them instead of jumping over them or ducking or following the pattern. Lora just smiled and rested her bone back on her shoulder.  
“Your turn.”  
So Lora has fire magic. At least I was somewhat prepared for this since I did face Mara.  
“I don’t want to hurt anyone here Lora. I just want to help people.”  
Lora gave me a dumbstrucked look.  
“First of all, CALL ME LORCI! And secondable, you want to help? Give up your life.”  
Lora sent out more fireballs at me and Danny. One of them hit Danny in the chest and he was thrown back into me. We landed in a heap. Lora gave us a disappointed look and then leaped up high in the air. I realized what she was going to do. Danny did too and he sprang up and grabbed me as well. Lora landed right where we were a moment before, slamming the ground hard with her red bone.  
“Your turn again.” Lora told us, getting up.   
“If we’re going to die then at least it would be by the king. I want to talk to him.”  
“It is my duty to capture and or kill you. Stop complaining.”  
“Don’t I get a say in this?”  
Lora stopped preparing her attack and looked at Danny.  
“What is it human?”  
“I read somewhere that a monster has to spare a human if they know that the human can end their life.”  
Oh no.  
“Bwuahahahahahha! Oh my bad. Did I miss something here? Do you think that I am afraid of you two humans? I won’t give up. Never!”  
Lora put her hands on her waist and started snickering. That was when Danny attacked her, socked her right in the face. Lora fell to the ground but quickly did a backflip and got up. She opened her hand and her red bone flew into it. She wiped her mouth. There was blood. Her eyes seemed to glow brighter and her gaze locked onto Danny. She then started chuckling.  
“Finally a challenge. Get ready for my fabled blue attack!”  
I never heard of that before.  
Blue spears appeared in the air and went right at me. I got ready to dodge but Danny stopped me.  
“Don’t move. Trust me.”  
I did what he said and watched as the blue spears went through me and Danny without doing anything.  
“Listen Lorci. Sorry for punching you but you really aren’t even listening to Jasmine now are you? You're tough and you're good at your job. Capturing us is pointless. You don’t have to prove anything to nobody. Everyone seems to respect you quite highly. Who are you trying to impress? It may not be any of my business but you are attacking us right now so at least tell me who you, the great Lorci, are trying to impress?”  
Lora’s face went dark and her expression became unreadable. Her scarf flew in the wind behind her.  
Suddenly I felt like I couldn’t really move. My body was outlined in orange. Suddenly a wave of fire balls hit me. I felt my skin start burning. While the other fire did burn this one felt more like poison. Lora’s eyes glew in the dark, her pupils shaped like fire and smoke rising from her now glowing red bone.  
“I don’t need this. All I need is your dead body on the ground.”  
A bone suddenly came up from the ground and slammed into me, sending me to the ground. There I landed on a sharpened bone. I screamed in pain. Lora snapped her fingers and blue bones sprang from the ground, forming a cage around me.   
“I AM GOING TO FUCKING RUIN YOU!”  
Lora snapped her fingers again and fire geysers erupted from out of the ground, making their way towards Danny. Danny, being slowed down by whatever force Lora is using, didn’t move fast enough and magma splashed onto his leg. He grunted in pain and turned to face Lora.   
Lora looked pissed. Her face was dark and her glowing eyes were the same so there was no other emotion visible but anger by the looks of it. Her red bone twirled behind her, her scarf somehow not getting tied up in it. It looks like this is Danny’s fight now.

  
....

  
This is why I should let Jasmine do the talking to these monsters. She always seems to be able to sway them. I have no idea what to do now. I could fight but that would be suicidal! How can I fight someone like Lora!? I wasn’t lying when I said that she is great. She is skilled enough to be called a great.   
I decided to check her. Jasmine normally does this somehow. I examined her but all I could get was the fact that she is pissed.  
Lora took that as a turn and summoned three gysery lines towards me. This time I was ready but even then I still took a hit. The burn magic or whatever wasn’t helping and I could feel myself getting weaker.   
Remembering some advice from another book I took out my kooler and ate something. I then threw the other item at Jasmine who caught it and blinked at me gratefully.  
As it said I felt way better. Lora snapped her fingers and this time three waves of fireballs came at me. It was painful but I still managed to dodge most of them. An idea suddenly hit me. It is a terrible one but I have to try it.  
I spared Lora.  
Lora seemed to falter for a moment but then attacked me with the geyser attack again. I managed to avoid it all without a hit. I was pretty proud about that. Once again I spared Lora.  
“W-what are you doing?”  
“Doing nothing.”  
Lora growled at me.   
“You really think that you can get through this world without fighting? I say Fuck That!”  
Lora slammed her bone on the ground. With a bang fire started erupting from the ground in a ring around her, continuing to come towards me. Luckily the gaps became wider and easier to dodge. That is when more fire erupted from the ground in another ring.  
While I did manage to dodge it again the next ring of fire was in a different pattern. A fire collom seared my arm. I flinched but still kept my cool. Once again I spared. Lora gave me a long look.  
“You really think that sparing is going to work? In this world it is war. While it may not be kill or be killed you can sure bet your ass that it is not oh happy day. In this world you kill those who are in your way. You kill to survive. You kill the nice since there are no nice people anymore. You may be different but you're in our way. You will be killed. So Stop Sparing Me!”  
Lora attacked me with a mix of bones and fireballs. Her complex attack pattern made dodging nearly impossible. I survived the attack with nothing but a sliver of health left. Yet I still spared. The fire in Lora’s eyes died and her bone stopped smoking. She averted her eyes. No attack came.  
I spared again. Lora let out a shuddering sigh of rage.  
“I-i...I HATE THIS!”  
I spared again.   
“I Really REALLY Hate This! Why can’t humans be like what everyone said they were! Why is it that the only humans that come up here aren’t like the ones that they talked about or the ones who banished us!? I hate this.”  
Lora put a hand to her head. The black filter faded.  
“Lora. I am sorry for attacking you before. It wasn’t right.”  
Lora laughed a little.   
“I am sorry. This is my fault. You don’t have to feel sorry.”  
I shook my head.  
“This isn’t your fault. Years go by and people do change. Monsters weren’t always like this.”  
“I don’t know that! I wasn’t alive when monsters were banished up here like West, Quest, and Sara. Sara was only three years old! It was really West and Quest who remembered everything. To be honest I have no idea how any of us are this young looking or even alive. Monsters do live for a really long time but not for nearly a million years! West and Quest never said anything about how we have lived this long and still look young.”  
That was an interesting fact. I took a mental note of that.  
“Well, I better get going.”  
Lora flicked her hand and the bones around Jasmine went away.  
“Thanks kids...for everything I guess.”  
Lora gave us a wave and then walked off back into town. 


	28. The Everflowing River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Flaky Forest Ark Part 1 comes to an end. Now here comes the Everflowing River Ark Part 1. I will finish this probably not for a while. I am having quite the trouble with making the story right now. So yeah.

It was easy leaving Flaky Town but I couldn't help but notice the shadows of the Finders appear behind us, making sure we don't come back.


End file.
